The fall of New France, 1755-1760

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THE

FALL OF NEW FRANCE

1766-1760

BY

GERALD E. HART

PBBsmcrr 09 ths sooibtt vob nxsroBioAL studies, momtbeal, past vigk-pbksidxnt and

UFX MXJIBBB of THB MUMISMATIO AMD AMTIQUABIAIC 800IBTT, MOMTBBAI^ VTO.

WITH PORTRAITS AND VIEWS IN ARTOTYPE

Quia nescit primam ease historiffi legem, ne quid falsi dioere aadeat ;
deinde ne quid veri non aadeat.— C^. cU OraL Lib. II,

MONTREAL : W. DRYSDALE & CO
TORONTO : R. W. DOUGLAS & CO

NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

.-^ay l9Li

Entered aooording to the Aot of Parliament of Canada, in the year 1888,
by Obrald B. Hakt, in the Office of the Minister of Acrioaltare.

Ck>PTRIOHT BY

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 1888.

PRINTED BY OAZBTTB PRINTING COMPANY, MONTREAL.

, • • • •

• • •

• « . • • •

TO

JOHN RBADB, Esq., F.RS.C.,

FABT FBBBIDENT,
AMD THB MEMBHB8 OF THB BOGIBTY FOB HIBTORXGAL
nriTDIES, MONTBBAL, THIS MOMOOKAPH
IS RESPBCrrFUIXY DEDICATED BY

THE AUTHOR.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

The past history of Canada from a provincial
aspect is replete with interesting episodes of adven-
ture, discovery, conquest — ^religious and i)olitical —
and WOT by sea and land, which have ever been
the subject of polemical discussions. The Society for
Historical Studies, young as it is, has not been slow
to elucidate many events which have been so fruitful
of interest to all of us and the community at large. In
a heterogeneous population such as that forming the
present Dominion of Canada, it is not surprising that
our history has been written from an uncosmoi>olitan
point of view, pandering to national prejudices. It
is with gratification, therefore, that we see this Society
rising above selfish views, delving to the founda-
tion of history and presenting it in conformity with

VI Introductory Note.

Cicero's injunction on the title page hereof, as it
should be, free from all bias and consequences,
having truth and fact for its basis. The present
pages form the subject of a paper read before one of
the Sessions of the Society, which was deemed
worthy of more extended use and publicity. It is
therefore oflTered, in the hope that it will merely
be the forerunner of many others worthy of greater
preservation, which it has been my good province
to hear read at its Sessions and which, properly
collated and edited, will form together a valuable
history of the Dominion.

As the eye is the window of the soul, treating it
likewise as the avenue to the mind, I have added
illustrations of the leading actors (or such of them as
are obtainable) and principal cities, from originals of
the time, which generous possessors have largely
enabled me to contribute. Original portraits and
views are more difficult and costly to obtain than
the public are probably aware of; the few
examples now remaining are either in inaccessible

Introductory Note. Vll

places or equally so in the hands of collectors, who do
not desire to see them reproduced. It is a pleasure
therefore to me thus publicly to acknowledge the
spontaneous and generous offerings I received from
Mr. Robert Jenkins, Rosedale, Toronto ; Mr. Lawrence
Heyden, Toronto, the owner of the valuable letter
from Wolfe herein produced ; Mr. Justin Winsor,
Harvard University ; Mr. John Horn, Montreal,
some of whose originals as well as autograph signa-
tures from rare documents or letters in facsimile,
adorn these pages.

G. E. H.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

1. Major General Wolfe's Letter, 1769 Frontispiece

2. The Hon. Vice-Admiral Boecawen 39

3. Lieutenant ColonelJohn Winslow 44

4. Expulsion Medal 49

5. Fac-simile from M^ailles Louis-le-6rand 50

6. Madame La Marquise de Pompadour 65

7. Lieut-General Marquis of Montcalm 67

8. Colonel Bougainville, A.D.C 96

9. Quebec in 1759 97

10. Major General James Wolfe 98

11. Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Saunders 99

12. Battle of Montmorenci, 1759 103

13. The Hon. Brigadier-General Robert Monckton 104

14. Quebec after the Bombardment, 1759 113

15. The Hon. Brigadier-General George Townshend 114

16. Captain Hugh Palliser, R.N 115

17. Wolfe's Monument, Westminster Abbey 137

18. The Hon. Brigadier-GeneralJames Murray, First Governor-

General of Quebec 138

19. Chevalier de Levis 140

20. Major General Jeffery Amherst 143

2L Montreal in 1760 147

22. Brigadier General Thomas Gage, Grovemor of Montreal,

1760 151

Biographioal sketohes and descriptions appended at end of narratire.

** One voice, one people, one in heart
And soul, and feeling, and desire 1
Be-light the smoalderiug martial fiie,
Sound the mate trampet^ strike the lyre,
The hero deed can not expire,
The dead still play their part

Raise high the monumental stone !
A nation's fealty is theirs,
And we are the rejoicing heirs.
The honored sons of sires whose cares
We take upon us unawares.
As freely as our own.

We hoast not of the victory,

But render homage, deep and just,
To his — to their — immortal dust,
Who proved so worthy of their trust
No lofty pile Dor sculptured bust
Can herald their^degree.**

Sanobtbb.

1754-1760.

A retrospective glance at the colonization period
of the history of North America will show ns that
the country was claimed, in the first half of the 1*7 th
century, by the Spaniards on the south, closely
bordered on the north by the doubtful claim of the
French to the Louisiana country, which had not then
been named ; the English, in their neighboring colony
of Virginia, already well-established ; the Dutch New
Netherlands adjoining them on the north-east ; New
England following to the further north-east, with a
small strip of territory and coast-line ; New France,
the rest of the country to the North Pole.

We hare thus all the great Christian nations of
the world colonizing and taking possession of the

2 The Fall of New France.

beautiful continent of North America, each outvie-
ing the other in their vain effort to establish a reli-
gious hierarchy, according to their different tenets,
in a land which knew not the Cross, but which
opened to them a prospect of peace they could not
enjoy in their own homes.

While commercial enterprise was the main factor
in establishing these colonies, the propagation of the
Grospel and the advancement of the divine glory,
" by bringing- the Indians and savages resident in
" these parts to human civility and a settled and
" quiet government," were the chief objects to be
attained. ^

Vexilla Begis prodeont ;
Fulget crucis mysterinm.

The unfortunate divergent opinions as to the
mode in which Christianity should be worshipped,

^The Charter of the One Hundred Associates, granted on the
29th April, 1627, by King Louis XIII, read : " For the primary pur-
" pose of converting the Indians to the Cathohc Faith," and "for
" the purpose of obtaining for his Majesty's Subjects new cominer-
^ cial advantages, derivable from a better management of the fur
" trade. "---Faitton JSisioire de la CoUmie FrancaUe en Canada, p. 126
etteq.

The Fall of New France. 3

^were now transplanted from the Old to the New soil.
The Spaniard, with his ultramontane views, more
Catholic than the most exacting Roman ; the Nor-
man and Breton peasant, with his mild and sweet
submission to the doctrines of the parental Church
of Eome, under the Order of St. Francis, to be later
on exchanged for that of the more turbulent and
despotic control of Loyola ; the direct opi>osing faction
of the Virginian, who had left his home, bringing
with him a charter, in which it was a special duty that
" the true word and service of Grod, according to the
" rites and services of the Church of England, should
" be preached, planted and be used in the Colonies
" and among the neighboring savages ;"* the Puri-
tan exile, in his sacerdotal oligarchy, in which " no
" man shall be admitted to the freedom of this body
" politic, but such as are members of some of the
" Churches within its precincts ;" and the New
Netherlander, acting under the parent Govern-
ment of the States-Gteneral of Holland, whose mis-
sion was "peace and amity, without Church, that
" everyone should enjoy the free exercise of their

^ James the First, November 20, 1606, Instructions for the
Goyemment of Virginia.

6 The Fall of New France.

contestants. The English while claiming it, had not
yet extended beyond the confines of the coast-line of
the Alleghany chain. A few missionaries of the
Moravian or United Brethren sect, avowing tributary
allegiance to the Virginian Grovernment, had estab-
lished posts for the conversion of the Indians, chiefly
in the Pennsylvania district among the Delawares ;
outside of them, the French traders alone were met
with in their honorable traffic with the natives, for
which they were always distinguished, in sad
contradistinction to the practices of the Provincials.
England deemed it incredible that France would
lay claim, by right of La Salle's discovery of 16*74,
to this large interior, commonly known as the Five
Nations country; for the English were determined
to make good the pretensions they had always main-
tained (perhaps without foundation) of a prior dis-
covery by Wood in 1654, and by Bolt in 16*70. This
claim is to some extent recognized by the fifteenth
clause of the treaty of peace at Utrecht.^ It is said

* Section XV., Treaty of Utrecht, 11 April, 1713:— "The subjects
" of France inhabiting Canada, and others, shall hereafter give no
" hindrance or molestation to the five nations or cantons of Indians
" subject to the Dominion of Great Britain, nor to the other natives
*^ of America, who are friends to the same. In like manner the

The Fall of New France. 7

that it was only in 1*742 that the country west of the
mountains was occupied by the first Englishman
who had ever wandered beyond the great Appala-
chian chain. This was John Howard, of Virginia,
who was closely followed by Conrad Weiser and the
Moravian missionaries, who established permanent
posts.^

The French had unquestionably approached nearer
an occupation by erecting trading posts and had had
extensive dealings with the natives for thirty years.
This was followed, in 1*749, by France sending an
armed expedition under De Celeron to take official pos-
session of the disputed territory, by affixing leaden

'' subjects of Great Britain shall behave themselves peaceably
" towards the Americans, who are subjects or friends of France;
" and on both sides they shall enjoy full liberty of going and
'* coming on account of trade. As also the natives of those coun-
** tries shall, with the same liberty, resort, as they please, to the
'' British and French colonies, for promoting trade on one side, and
" the other, without any molestation or hindrance, either on the part
'' of the British subjects, or of the French. But it is to be exactly and
*' distinctly settled by commissaries, who are, and who ought to be
" accounted the subjects and friends of Britain or of France.''

* It is true, prior to this, in 1714, immediately after the Peace of
Utrecht, Col. Alexander Spots wood, Lieutenant-Governor of Virgi-
nia, personally and with indefatigable labor, made the first certain
discovery of a passage over the Appalachian Mountains, but nothing
further came of it

8 The Fall of New France.

plates at prominent localities, under the orders of De
la Q-allissoniere, the Viceroy of Canada and New
France, to oppose the cession made by England to
the Ohio Company hereafter mentioned.

The territory in question was very fully occupied
by the Indian races, who had their villages estab-
lished; their t;ribal hunting-grounds well defined;
with council fires burning at Shamokin, the capital of
the Delaware country, and Onondago, that of the Iro-
quois ; where they discussed, at periodical intervals,
their common foe — the white man. Here overtures
were made by La Joncaire-Chabert for the French —
William Johnson for the English — accompanied with
liberal presents, to obtain their powerful assistance
in attacks upon Canada or the New England colo-
nies, as the case might be. Well may they have
been puzzled as to which cause they should espouse,
for both were their common enemy in driving them
from the soil of their forefathers ; the game upon
which they subsisted was rapidly receding before
the encroachments of civilization.

The Gk)spel had been preached to these different
tribes by most zealous Jesuit missionaries for over a
century, in the interests of France ; and by Moravian

The Fall of New France. Q

and other missionaries on the English behalf, with-
out making much progress, as the Indian of that day
was not a creature to be influenced by religion to
any appreciable degree, the chase and the battle-axe
being the objects alone for which he lived. While
not so effective in establishing the Catholic worship
in their hearts ; the French, — ^by their congenial
nature for hunting, honest traffic, and a dauntless
courage for which their officers were most feared
and beloved — were more successful in gaining over
the friendship and powerful assistance of these tribes
in the war which was now about to commence.

The Iroquois, through their eloquent Mohawk
chief, Hendrick, responded to the call of the Eng-
lish, at a conference with Col. William Johnson, in
the following terms : — " We don't know what you
** Christians, English and French, intend. We are
" so hemmed in by you both, that we have hardly a
" hunting place left. In a little while, if we find a
" bear in a tree, there will immediately appear an
" owner of the land to claim the property and
" hinder us from killing it, by which we live.
" We are so perplexed between you, that we hardly

10 The Fall of New France.

" know what to say or think." ^ Subsequently,
in a direct reply to their appeal for assistance, he
reproached them with neglect, if not cowardice : —
" We could have taken Crown Point, but you
" prevented us. Instead, you burnt your own fort
" at Saratoga and ran away from it, which was a
" shame and a scandal to you. Look about your
" country, and see ! Tou have no fortifications ; no,
" not even in Quider (Albany). It is but a step
" from Canada hither, and the French may come and
" turn you out of doors. Tou desire us to speak
" from the bottom of our hearts, and we shall do it.
** Look at the French ; they are men ! They are for-
** tifying everywhere. But you are all like women,
" bare and open, without fortifications ! ! " ^ The Iro-
quois became allies of the French, and remained so
until the year 1759.

In 1749, the Ohio Company received a grant
of a large territory from the English Q-ovemment,
consisting of 600,000 acres, on the east bank of
the Ohio, within the disputed country. They
were to have the monopoly of the Indian trade.

^New Ywk Colonial Documents, Vol. VL, p. 813.
* Fichon*8 Memoires du Cap Breton, 1760, p. 246.

The Fall of New France. 11

The French considered this an encroachment,
claiming, as I have before stated, by the right of
discovery and occupation, all the lands watered
by the tributaries of the Mississippi. The Ohio
Company, opposed alike by the French and the
Indians, endeavored to take forcible possession of
their property by erecting a fort at Redstone (now
Brownville), on the Monongahela. The French pro-
ceeding with the erection of additional forts, the
English Government, through Lord Holderness,
Secretary of State, wrote to the governors of Penn-
sylvania and Virginia, that " whenever the French
were found within the undoubted limits of their
provinces," force should be used to repel force. ^
Thus matters stood ready for an open conflict, and it
is not suprising that a rupture soon occurred to
which neither party attached much importance.
With the exception of this skirmish in 1750, at a
block-house said to belong to the English on the
Miami River, in which the French were successful,
nothing of any moment arose to mar the peace
established since the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of

^Parkman says that this letter was signed by the King
personally.

12 The Fall of New France.

1748^ It was only in 1758 that the French gave
tinmistakeable signs of their intention of maintain-
ing by force the country claimed by both.

In this year, Lieut.-Gov. Dinwiddie, of Virginia,
purchased the right from the Indians on the Mon-
ongahela to erect a fort at the junction of that river
with the Alleghany. He then determined upon
sending an envoy to the French commandant at the
nearest fort, named Le Bceuf, built on what was
known as the French Creek, demanding their im-
mediately vacating the territory.

This emissary introduced to American history its
greatest and most remarkable statesman, the cele-
brated Greorge Washington ; who, though then but
twenty-one years of age, offered to undertake this
perilous adventure. Accompanied by the land sur-
veyor, Gist, and a few Indians ; he reached the fort,

* In like manner to the English instructions, retaliatoiy orders
were given by the Governor of Canada to arrest all Englishmen
found beyond the Alleghanies, and seize their goods ; this was put
in execution, and several English traders were forwarded to France
and lodged in the prisons of Rochelle. (27i« Mystery Revealed^ Lon-
don, 1759, p, 298.) A remonstrance and demand for their release,
from the Court of England, was presented by the English Ambas-
sador at Paris, the Earl of Albemarle, on the 7th March, 1752
(idem, p. 314), but received no satisfaction.

The Fall of New France. 13

was well received, delivered the Governor's message,
but obtained no satisfaction. In the following year,
1754, Washington, then lieutenant-colonel of a Vir-
ginia regiment, with 800 men, was sent to enforce
his mission of the year previous and to erect military
works on the banks of the Ohio ! ! ^ He was to be
followed by Col. Fry, who was to assume command,
but this latter died en route.

It was a strange decree of fate, that the chosen
Warrior to set on foot the " seven years' war " in
America, ending with establishing England's supre-
macy on this continent, should have been a native-
bom American and the same individual who, a few
years hence, dealt the blow which annihilated her
sovereignty over the larger and more valuable part of
the same territory. Stranger still, that Providencfc
ordained, when fighting on behalf of his Mother
Country at Forts Necessity and Braddock's Fields,
the only engagements of the War in which he took
a prominent part, both should be disastrous failures ;
while his last effort, when directed against her at
Yorktown in 1781, should have been that of an over-
whelming victory, upon which he rose to the pin-

* Washington's JaumcU, 1754.

Izj. The Fall of New France.

nacle of fame and severed at one blow the parental
ties which had existed over one hundred and fifty
years in uninterrupted harmony with her cherished
colonies, for which she had so often fought and bled.
"Washington, with half of his regiment, reached
"Wills' Creek, a fort of the Ohio Company, which was
to form the base of operations. He sent Capt. Trent
to erect a fort at the present site of Pittsburg, but
the foundations had barely been laid before he was
suddenly faced by a force of 500 French militia,
with cannon, and obliged to desist. No engagement
took place, and he was allowed to rejoin "Washington.
The works were then demolished, and gave place to
the erection by the French of Fort Duquesne. In
anticipation of an attack by a detachment from
this same force under Commander Ensign Jumonville
de Villiers, who was sent on a reconnoitering expedi-
tion of which Washington was advised through
friendly Indians, but which was considerably magni-
fied by them ; he proceeded to meet them on the 26th
May, and in the encounter Jumonville was killed,
with nine others, and twenty-one prisoners taken.
This gave rise to a great deal of controversy in France
and Canada and Washington was accused of violating

The Fall of New France. V^

all known articles of war in attacking a peaceful
embassy. With the lapse of time and cooler judg-
ment, both French and Canadian authors have with-
drawn this ridiculous and gratuitous accusation.

Expecting a more formidable attack, he built an
entrenchment, which he named Fort Necessity.
Being reinforced with Col. Fry's detachment of the
Virginia militia, he had a force of 800 men and one
company of regulars under his command. The
French, on the 8rd July, about 900 strong, com-
manded by Coulon de Villiers, brother of Jumon-
ville, attacked the entrenchment in a vigorous
onslaught and after nine hours incessant fighting, a
flag of truce was sent asking a capitulation, which
Washington accepted with " honors of war." *

No doubt, while this was a disastrous failure for
Washington ; in result, it was, practically speaking,
a drawn battle, without loss of honor or prestige to
him. He was opposed by a much larger force ; but
having the advantage of position, with a fort, a suffi-
cient garrison and the overtures of a parley coming

* Tht Mystery Revealed; or, TnUh brought io Light, London, 1759,
p. 22. Also idenif VUlier's Joumalj p. 167, and Washington's Journal,
1754.

l6 The Fall of New France,

from the attacking force, he should have held his
ground with probably ultimately a result of a
complete rout to his attackers. An Indian chief
expressing his opinion of the fight to Washington
(Conotocarious, as he was called by them), ex-
claimed, " The French behaved like cowards ; the
" English like fools ! ! " It was upon the 4th July,
1754, in his twenty-second year, that he surrendered
and retreated from Fort Necessity ; it was a remark-
able coincidence and synchronism that upon the 4th
July, twenty-two years afterwards, he began and
consummated the liberty and independence of a
nation destined to become one of the greatest com-
mercial and controlling powers of modern times. ^

Parkman, in Montcalm and Wolfe, says ** the defeat
" at Fort Necessity was doubly disastrous to the
" English, since it was a new step and a long one,
" towards the ruin of their interests with the
" Indians ; and when in the next year the smoul-
" dering war broke into flame, nearly all the west-
** em tribes drew their scalping-knives for France.

* A ftirther synchronism in this remarkable man's life is the
date of his birth being the year in which the patent of Georgia,
which made up the thirteen old colonies, was granted, and for
which he afterwards obtained independence and autonomy.

The Fall of New France. VJ

" Villiers went back exultant to Fort Duqnesne,
" burning on his way the buildings of Gist's settle-
" ment and the storehouse at Bedstone Creek. Not
" an English flag now waved beyond the AUegha-
" nies.''

I must now direct your attention to another part
of America, the seat also of continuous dissensions
and warfare since it was disposed of by the Treaty
of Utrecht, signed on the 11th of April, 1*718.

Acadia, the home of the pioneer immigrants of La
Nouvelle France, suffered more vicissitudes from
European conflicts than any other portion of the
American mainland. Alternating according to its
political fate in name with New Scotland, or Nova
Scotia, as given to it by the eccentric Sir "William
Alexander, Earl of Stirling, who received the terri-
tory as a gift from the Scotch King, James VI, and
1st of England ; — the country remained in the hands
of a few French fishermen and peasants^ until it
surrendered permanently to the English on the 2nd
October, 1*710. At this time, there were but 352 fami-

^ More than MitU^ for there was a considerable sprinkling of
Scotch as well as Indian blood among these progenitors of the
exiled Acadians. — Rameaa, La France aux Colonies,
2

l8 The Fall of New France.

lies in all resident in the Province. They were, by
the Treaty of Utrecht, allowed their option either to
retire, with their moveable effects, to any other
place within a year, or remain, upon becoming sub-
jects of the Crown of Great Britain. They were also
to have the free exercise of the Eoman Catholic
religion, so far as the laws of England permit.

But few emigrated, though nearly all expressed
their determination of doing so after the next har-
vest.

Finding that they remained and showed no inten-
tion of leaving. Gov. Caulfield requested them, on
the 8rd May, 1715, to take the oath of allegiance to
the new Ejng, George 1st. This they refused to do,
likewise, in 171*7, 1719 and 1720. The local English
Gt>vernor was in no position to enforce the oath,
having but 200 soldiers in garrison, and the French
population having increased to several thousands.
The Home Government, with a stolid indifference,
heeded not the warnings from so unimportant a
colony, and allowed matters to take their own course,
presumably relying on the legal assumption that
the inhabitants, remaining one year after the Treaty,
in accordance with its terms, became ipso facto the

The Fall of New France. ip

subjects of Great Britain, whether they took the
oath or not.

English settlers gradually coming into the
Province, their protection and the upholding of
the authority of England, both military and
civil, entailed considerable anxiety upon the Local
Government at Annapolis. This disquietude was
enhanced by the well-known antipathy the Aca-
dians bore to everything English. It had already
been a source of complaint that, under the sacred
cassock, the servile and credulous Acadian was
being secretly instructed in political ethics anything
but friendly to the Local Government. To counter-
act the danger accruing therefrom, officers were sent
out in 1725 to insist upon an immediate oath of loy-
alty being taken. Meeting with the usual opposi-
tion, but determined to have an oath taken, they
unfortunately modified the form, and had it sub-
scribed to; upon which the Acadians ever after-
wards claimed the character of " Neutrals ! ! " They
were not to hear arms against the French^ English^ or
Indians ! !

As soon as this was reported to Lieut.-Gov.
Armstrong, he repudiated the act of his Officers, and

20 The Fall of New France.

submitted the matter to the Home Gk)veTiimeiit, who
likewise declined to admit the position assumed by
the Acadians or accept the oath as worded. ^ Gen.
Richard Philipps, who enjoyed the sinecure position
of Governor-General of the Colony from 171*7 to 1749,
returned from England upon the special mission to en-
force an unconditional oath. This he obtained in 1730
in the following terms : " Je promets et jure sincSre-
" ment en foi de Chretien que je serai enti^rement
" fidMe et obfeirai vraiment Sa Majest6 le Ttoi George
" le Second, que je reconnais pour le Souverain
" Seigneur de TAcadie, ou Nouvelle Ecosse. Ainsi,
" Dieu me soit en aide." ^ Even this oath, plain as it
is, in effect, was objected to by the Home Govern-
ment as being insufficiently explicit in terms. *

Notwithstanding the admonition given to the
people and priests, the political sermon still contin-
ued, and an example having to be made to enforce

* Murdock's Eutory of Nova Scotia, VoL I., p. 437.

' (Translation.) I promise and swear sincerely, on the faith of
a Christian, that I will he entirely faithful and truly ohey his
Majesty George 2nd, whom I acknowledge as the Sovereign of
Acadia, or Nova Scotia. So help me God.

• Murdock, idem,, p. 467, VoL L ; also Nova Scotia Archives, 1869,
p. 84.

The Fall of New France. 21

law and order, Gov. Armstrong, in 1*729, ordered Mons.
Breeley, the priest, to leave the Province within a
month. An excellent view of the position, from a
contemporary writer^ of 1748, may here be quoted :
" Though these inhabitants became English subjects
" by virtue of the Treaty of Utrecht and their oath
" of allegiance of 1730 ; yet the French Governor
" and Bishop in Canada preserved the chief influ-
" ence and command over them, and cultivated in
" them their former hereditary attachment to the
" French King ; so that they continued a distinct
** body of French Roman Catholicks, exempted by
" the English Government from bearing arms in
" defence of it, and kept by their priests so unmixed
" with and separate from the English, that no Eng-
** lish families could settle among them. The conse-
" quence of all which was, that the increase of these
" Acadians, instead of strengthening the King's
" Government, as they naturally ought to have
" done, became dangerous to it, and by remaining
" in the Province were of much greater service to
" France, than if they had removed into the French
" Government (Canada) immediately after the Treaty
" of Utrecht, as they were a growing stock in Nova

22 The Fall of New France.

" Scotia or settling it with French inhabitants, even
" whilst it was in the hands of the English, and at
" the same time contributed to the growth of Cape
" Breton by supplying it with provisions."*

Subsequent events, and the effect of the Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle, having been very ably treated by
the President at the last meeting of this Society, I
have only to add, that upon an effort being made to
get the oath of allegiance taken, after they had been
again transferred by the French Government to the
British, on the 18th April, 1748, the usual artifices
of neutrality were employed to avoid it.

In 1*755, Halifax and Annapolis Royal had sprung
into places of considerable importance, and other
English settlements being rapidly formed, it was
deemed absolutely necessary to put down, even
with a harsh hand, the numerous predatory
and hostile acts the Acadians were constantly
harassing these new settlers with. Murder, rapine
and open warfare, instigated by them, were incurred
at the hands of the native Micmacs. Several hun-
dreds of the former, with a large contingent of the

* Memoirs of the Principal Transactions of the Last War, London,
1758, p. 18.

The Fall of New France. 23

latter, were found in arms at the forts of Beaubassin
and Baye-verte. The alarm of the English inhabit-
ants was widespread, especially as events were
pointing to another conflict between the crowns of
England and France at no distant day. This con-
flict promised to be a war of extermination to one or
the other party in America. I will again quote the
position of matters from contemporary writers : —

John Huske, in his work on the " Present State
of North America," published both in London and
Boston in 1755, prior to the Acadian removal, says
(pages 89-40) : " Since the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle,
** the French have erected, in Nova Scotia, one fort
" at Beaubassin and another at Baye-verte. From
" hence they have furnished the Indians, who make
" about 800 fighting men, with arms, ammunition,
" provisions and clothing. Upon our attempt to colo-
" nize the Province immediately after the late war
" with France, they spirited up these Indians to war
" against us, by their ample supplies ; by their
" giving them a large bounty for every English pri-
" soner they brought to them, and a much larger for
'* every English scalp they could produce ; by their
" promising to protect them in their forts, and by

2 A The Fall of New France.

" disguising themselves and occasionally joining the

" Indians in their enterprizes against our settle-

" ments, etc., etc. The Indians surprised the village

** of Dartmouth one night, and, altho' it had a

" guard of soldiers, they burnt the houses and put

" both men, women and children to death. The

" French also, as soon as they had built these two

" forts, threatened to destroy all the French subjects

" of his Majesty and bum their settlements without

" their forts on the peninsula, if they did not retreat

" into the country within their forts ; therefore they,

" who have always inclined to the French on account of

" their religion, etc., though ever indulged in the

" free exercise of that and every thing else, burnt

" their houses, destroyed their plantations, and went

" under the protection of the French, and prove as

** good subjects of the French king as any he has in

*' America. Contrary to their oath of allegiance,

" many of them have been detected in joining the

" French and Indians, both in peace and war,

" against his Majesty's subjects."

Another, Dr. William Clarke, in his Obser-
vations on the Late and Present Condtict of the
French with Regard to their Encroachments upon the

The Fall of New France. 25

British Colonies in North America^ published at Boston,
just prior to the expulsion of the Acadians in 1Y55,
states (page 28) : " The French inhabitants of Aca-
" dia are well-known to be better inclined to the
'' French than the English Government, and must
" eternally be so, as long as they are suffered to
" have French Roman Catholic priests, subjects of
" the French king and under the direction of the
** Bishop of Quebec, among them ; and as the Eng-
" lish have not one fort, except Annapolis Ttoyal,
" that can hold out one day against a proper number
" of regular forces provided with sufficient cannon,
** if the French should, before the English are aware
" of it, send a large body of troops, with necessary
" artillery, and a number of men-of-war to protect
" them, the French inhabitants^ who amount to many thou-
" sandSy would^ upon their first appearance, universally
" revolt, and the conquest of that whole province
*' would not take up one fortnight. When the French
" have once made a conquest of this province and
" strengthened themselves in it, they will have laid
" a good foundation for dispossessing the English, in
" some future time, of all their other colonies in
" North America, and securing them to themselves
" with all the advantages of them."

26 The Fall of New France.

Yet another, — a French contemporary writer —
BuTEL-DuMONT, in his Histoire et Commerce des Colo-
nies AnglaiseSy published in 1755, at page 72 states :
" La cession qui a 6t6 faite de ce pays k la Q-rande
" Bretagne a rendu la Nouvelle Angleterre plus tran-
" quille et a assur6 son commerce. Les Anglais ne
" sont pourtant pas tout- d-f ait dilivHs des inquiittules que
" leur dormaient les alliances des Sauvages avec les FVan-
" pais. Oes derniers qui habitaient en Acadie n'ayant
" pas Youlu se soumettre k la domination anglaise>
*' se sont retires dans la Ghtspesie, d'ou Us incommodent
** leurs voisins^^ This has reference to the year 1755,
when the French inhabitants were supposed to be,
at least, " NetUrals ! " Allusion is here made to the
new English settlement at Chebucto, then named
Halifax.

The Memoirs of S, de (7.,^ a contemporary writer of

' (Translation.) Butel-Dumont, in his History and Commerce of
the English Colonies, published in 1755, states : " The cession which
" had been made of this Conn try to Great Britain rendered New
" England more quiet, and secured its commerce. The English
" u)ere neverthe less, not altogether free from anxiety^ occasioned by the
" aUiances o^ the Indians with the French. These latter, who inhab-
" ited Acadia, not being willing to submit to English domination,
" withdrew to Gasp^ District, from which they worry their neighbors.^

^ Behoved to have been written by VauqueUn, a Captain in com-
mand of one of the French war vessels in the St Lawrence, both at
Louisbourg and Quebec.

The Fall of New France. 27

1748 to 1760, published by the Quebec Literary and
Historical Society in 1838, at page 60, condemns in
no unmeasured terms the acts of these native-bom
subjects of England against the charitable treatment
they had ever received ; his words are : *' Le Gk)uver-
** neur-Q-6n6ral de TAcadie voulant egalement rfetablir
" Tordre et la tranquillity dans ce pays, manda aux
" habitants de venir a Chebuctou (Halifax), y pr6ter
" au Roy serment de fidelity. Les propositions qu'il
'' fit faire 6taient des plus raisonnables ; elles 6taient
** qu*on leur conserverait les privileges que le trait6
" d'Utretch et la Beine Anne leur avaient accord6s :
'' les Acadiens s*imaginerent qu'ils 6taient plus craints
" qu'on ne pensoit ; ils refuserent de faire serment.
" Le Gouverneur leur rfepartit : Vous fetes r6ellement
" sujets du Roy d'Angleterre, vous 6tes nfes sous sa
" domination, vous Tavez mfeme sou vent reconnu
" pour tel ; la France sur laquelle vous vous fiez,
" n*agit que par politique et vous fait jouer le role
" de rebelles, pour nous inquifeter jusque chez nous ;
'' enfin il les mena9a de sSvir contre eux, et ajouta
" que s'ils ne se rfesolvaient au plus tot, il allait faire
" tirer les canons de la ville sur eux, afin de s'en d6-
" fedre promptement : les Acadiens poussSs d'un zele

28 The Fall of New France.

" fanatique, excites par les prfetres, refusfirent cons-
" tamment d'obfeir au Q-ouvemeur, qui ayant fait r§-
" flexion que sa reputation souffriroit moins de se d6-
" faire de ce peuple en les dispersant, r6solut de les
" faire embarquer par families, et de les envoyer dans
" les diSerentes possessions Anglaises dans rAm6-
"rique."^

Other French authors of the period confirm these
statements, notably Pichon in his Lettres et Memoires
sur Cap Breton, 1760, pp. 239 et seq., while those of our
day speak as follows : R6veillaud, in his Histoire du
Canada, page 22, states : " La population totale des
" Acadiens fran9ais s'61evait k cette 6poque a 16,000
" Simes ; de ce nombre 4,000 peut-6tre avaient 6migr6
" dans les lies du golfe St. Laurent, ou elles se retrou-

* (Translation.) "The Governor-General of Acadia, wishing
" to reestablish order and tranquility in the country, requested
" the Inhabitants to come to Chebuctou (Halifax) and take
" there the oath of fidelity to the King. The propositions
''which he had made to them were of the most reasonable;
" they were to the effect that they should be confirmed in the
" privileges given to them at the Treaty of Utrecht and by Queen
" Anne. The Acadians imagined that the Government were
" more afraid of them than they actually were. They refused to
** take the oath. The Governor replied : * You are in reality sub-
** * jects of the King of England ; you are bom under his domination,
" * you have on several occasions admitted his sovereignty ; France,

The Fall of New France. 29

" Taient sons le pavilion de la France ; nn nombre a
" pen prAs 6gal s'fetait refngife dans les postes encore
" occnpees par les tronpes franjaises antonr de Tlsth-
'' me de Sli6diac et c^itaient des Acadiens qui composaierU
" la plus grande partie de la gamison dans les forts de
" Beausifour et de GasperSatix que nous venons de voirpris
" par le colonel Winslow, Le reste des Acadiens, soit
** done nne population de 8,000 habitants, vivaient
" paisiblement dans leur presqn'ile, sur les terres
" qui les avaient vus naitre, que leurs peres avaient
" d6frich6es et qu'ils cultivaient avec amour, donnant
" I'exemple de toutes les vertus priv6es et domestiques,
" lis avaient subi, sans trop protester, lasouverainet6
" de TAngleterre, et tout ce qu'ils demandaient, c'6-
" tait qu'on les laiss&t cultiver en paix leurs petits
" domaines et qu'on ne les contraignit pas k porter

*• * upon which you rely, acts only by policy, and makes you play the
** * r6U of rebels, by which we are annoyed at our very doors/ Fin-
" ally, he threatened them with severe punishment, and said * if they
" * did not come to an immediate decision, he would have the cannons
" * of I he town turned upon them, to get rid of them summarily.* The
" Acadians, actuated by a fanatical zeal, instilled by their Priests,
" constantly refused to obey the Government, who came to the con-
'* elusion that their reputation would suffer less by deporting them
** and dispersing them, therefore resolved : To embark them by
** families, and to send them into the different possessions of England
" in America."

30 The Fall of New France.

" leurs amies centre lenrs anciens compatrioteB, con-
" tre les hommes de leur langne, de leur religion et
" de leur sang. TJne sorte de convention tactte s'itait
" 4tdblie sur ce point entre eux et leurs gouvemeurs^ et leur
" avait valu leur nom de * Franjais neutres.' " t

Bameau, in La France aux Colonies^ p. 35, states : " A
" la suite du traits d*Utrecht le canton des Mines et de
" Beaubassin, ou se concentraient de plus en plus la
" majeure partie des Acadiens,cfem«*ra done Franfais par
" le fait, quoique Anglais par les traitis ; ils fetaient restes

t (Translation^ Reveillaud, in his History of Canada, p. 22, states
" The total population of the French Acadians reached at this epoch
'* 16,000 souls ; of this number about 4000 emigrated to the Islands in
" the Gulf of St Lawrence, where they were under the French flag
" an equal number found refuge in the posts occupied by French
" troops surrounding the Isthmus of Shediac, and it was Acadians
" who composed the greater part of the Garrisons of the Forts of Beausi"
" jour and QaspSraux, which we have just seen captured by Col, Window,
" The remainder of the Acadians, about 8000 Inhabitant8,were living
" quietly in the Peninsula on the lands upon which they were bom,
" which their forefathers cleared and which they themselves culti-
*' vated with love, giving an example of every virtue, private and
" domestic. They had submitted to, not without protestations, the
" English Sovereignty ; and all they asked in return, was to be
" allowed to cultivate their lands in peace, and that they should not
'^ be obliged to bear arms against their former compatriots, against
" men of their own language, religion and blood. A sort of tacit
" agreement vxu established on this point between them and their Governors ,
" which gave them the name of French Neutrals.**

The Fall of New France. 31

" d'ailleurs en communication par Tisthme de la pres-
" qu'ile avec les fran9ais du Canada, qui avaient con-
" serv6 toutes les cotes du continent, malgr6 les pr6-
" tentions des Anglais. De la sorte, ces Acadiens, en
" d6pit de quelques tiraillements et vexations, de-
" meurdrent pendant trente a quarante ans dans un
" 6tat de neutralit6 supportable, quoique p^ible et mal

Section XIV of the Treaty of Utrecht reads as fol-
lows : " It is expressly provided, that in all the said
" places and colonies to be yielded and restored by
" the Most Christian fang, in pursuance of this
" treaty, the subjects of the said King may have
" liberty to remove themselves within a year to any
" other place, as they shall think fit, together with
" all their moveable effects. But those who are

* (Translation.) Rameau, in France in the Colonies^ p. 35, states ;
" Following the Treaty of Utrecht, the District of Minas and Beau-
" bassin, where were concentrated the greater number of the Aca-
" dians, remained French by the f act, whUe English by the Treaties; the
" people were, besides, in communication, by way of the Isthmus,
" with the French of Oanada, who retained possession of all the coast
" of the Continent, in spite of the pretensions of the English. From
*' which, these Acadians, notwithstanding some difficulties and
** vexations, lived during thirty to forty years in a state of tolerable
** neutrality, though somewhat painfvl and badly d^ned,"

32 The Fall of New France.

'* willing to remain there, and to be subject to the
" Kingdom of G-reat Britain, are to enjoy the free
" exercise of their religion, according to the usage of
" the Church of Rome, as far as the laws of Q-reat
" Britain do allow the same."

Is it not clear, from the very language of this sec-
tion, not altered by any other, that all remaining
inhabitants became, ip%o facto, by choice, subjects of
G-reat Britain ? In fact, it was so regard^ by the
Crown at that day, for no oath was requested until a
new king ascended the throne, when it became one
of allegiance to him personally as an act of " foi et
hommage." To the State — the Government — they
had become British subjects, by tacit consent, in
remaining residents of the country, and it required
no further oath to legalize or complete the status.

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle expressly confirmed
and reiterated the above clause of the Treaty of
Utrecht ; thus, the French Acadians were twice
confirmed British subjects. They had not even the
privilege granted to them (as by that of Utrecht) of
having one year in which to decide. This latter
concession they asked for, and endeavored to claim,
but the authorities emphatically refused it.

The Fall of New France. 33

Gov. Oomwallis, of Nova Scotia, in 1749, left no

uncertain sound on the subject of their allegiance and

oath in the minds of his hearers. He stated, in a lengthy

reply to a deputation : " "We have cause to be much

" astonished at your conduct. This is the third time

" you have come here, and you do nothing but

" repeat the same story. To-day, you present us a

" letter, signed by a thousand persons, in which you

" declare openly that you will be the subjects of his

'' Britannick Majesty on such and such conditions.

" It appears to me you think yourselves independ-

*' ent to any government, and you wish to treat with

" the King as if you were so. But you ought to

" know that, from the end of the year stipulated in

" the Treaty of Utrecht for the evacuation of the

" country, those who chose to remain in the Pro-

" vince became at once the subjects of G-reat Britain.

" The treaty declares them such ; the King of France

" declares, in the treaty, that all the French who

" shall remain in this Province shall be the subjects

" of her then British Majesty. It would be contrary

" to common sense, also, to suppose that one can

'* remain in a province, and possess houses and lands

" there, without being subject to the Sovereign of
8

7 A The Fall of New France.

" that Province. You deceive yourselves, if you
" think yon are at liberty to choose whether yon
" will be the subjects of the King or no. From the
" year 1714, that no longer depended upon you.
" From that moment you became subject to the laws
" of Great Britain. You ought to have taken the
" oath of allegiance to your King the moment you
" were required to do so. You tell me that Gren.
" Phillips granted you the reservations you demand ;
" and I tell you the General who granted you such
" reservations did not do his duty ; and also that
" this oath has never, in the slightest degree,
" lessened your obligations to act always as a sub-
" ject ought to act. You allow yourselves to be led
" away by people who find it to their interest to
" had you astray. They have made you imagine it
" is only your oath which binds you to the English.
** They deceive you. It is not the oath which a
" king administers to his subjects that makes them
" subjects. The oath supposes that they are so
" already. The oath is nothing but a very sacred
" bond of the fidelity of those who take it. It is only
" out of pity to your situation, and to your inexpe-
" rience in the affairs of government, that we conde-

The Fall of New France. 35

" scend to reason with yon ; otherwise, the qnestion
" wonld not be reasoning, but commanding and
" being obeyed." ' It must here be remembered
that the oath administered by Phillips' contained no
reservation, but they claimed that a verbal one had
been made by him, which induced them to accept
the oath.

No less than five opportunities* were afibrded to
them between the years 1*749 and 1*766 to take the
oath of allegiance ; but upon each occasion they
positively refused to do so, except with the old reser-
vation, which could not now be accepted. To defer
action longer would be pusillanimous, if not degrad-

1 Now Seotia Archives, 1869, p. 174.

» See ante^ p. 20.

' As an illustration of one of these ** opportunities," I copy, t«r-
boHmy the langui^e used : *' In the King's name. By order of his
" Excellency, Chablbs Lawrbncb, Esquire, Lieuten&nt-Goyemor
" and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of Nova Scotia, or Aca-
** dia, &C. Proclamation. To the inhabitants and all others, natives
** of Chignecto, Baie-verte, Tintamar, Chepoudi, St. John's River, and
** their appurtenances and adjacent parts, and all others, who have
** not yet made their submissions ;

" Whereas, most part of the inhabitants of the above and other
** places have not yet made their submission to the King of Great
" Britain, but, on the contrary, have demeaned themselves contrary
*' to all orders and loyalty to their proper Sovereign. Therefore,

" This is to command them to repair immediately to my camp>

36

The Fall of New France.

ing, in the extreme. The first key-note of the
coming action was in October, 1754, when the Lords
of Trade wrote to Gk)v. Lawrence the following : —
" As to the inhabitants of the district of Chignecto,
" who are actually gone over to the French at Beau-
" sejour, if the Chief Justice should be of opinion
" that by refusing to take the oath without a reserve,
" or by deserting their settlements to join the French,
" they have forfeited their title to their lands, we
" could wish that proper measures were pursued for
" carrying such forfeiture into execution by legal
" process." ^

On May 10th, 1755, Qt)v. Lawrence writes from
Halifax to Gen. Braddock, the English Commander-in-
Ohief of the Forces, who was then on his ill-fated ex-
pedition in the Ohio Valley : — " Should a rupture hap-
" pen with France (an event founded upon appear-
" ances and reports), it would be extremely necessary

** in order to make their submission, bringing along with them all
" their firearms, swords, sabres, pistols, and all other instruments
" of war ; in disobedience of which, they shall be treated, as rebels,
** with military execution.

" Given at the camp of Chignecto, this thirteenth day of May,
"1755. Signed, Robbrt Monckton." (Tht Mystery Revealed, 1759,
p. 257.)

^Nooa Scotia Archives, 1869, p. 237.

The Fall of New France. 37

" for ns to keep on our guard I esteem it my duty
" to acquaint you that, in such case, the three regi-
" ments, augmented as it is proposed [to a thousand
" men each], with the scouts, the militia, and all the
" forces that we can depend upon, will no ways be
** in proportion to the number of posts which we
" must be obliged to defend, especially if it be con-
" sidered that, even in the heart of the Province, we
" have what they call neutral French — inhabitants
" well armed, well experienced in the use of arms,
" and also are connected with the French King ; so
" that, upon the least attempt which Canada should
" make to invade us, I believe it is more than pro-
" bable that they would immediately join them. As
" I take this article to be of imi)ortance, I thought it
" my duty to submit it to your reflection." ^

Before a reply was received from G-en. Braddock,
circumstances compelled the G-overnor to act
promptly. Upon receipt of a memorial, couched in
most offensive tone, of date June 10, 1755, said to
have been occasioned by the rumour that a fleet of
French vessels were close at hand to protect them, he
sent Oapt. Murray to remove their firearms, but this

1 TKt Mystery Revealed, 1759, p. 235.

38

The Fall of New France.

officer was so insolently treated, that the Gk)vemor-
in-Oouncil, on 4th July, 1765, felt constrained to pass
the following resolution : — " Council, after considera-
" tion,were of opinion that directions should be given
" to Oapt. Murray to order the French inhabitants,
" forthwith, to choose and send to Halifax new
" deputies with the general resolution of the said
" inhabitants in regard to taking the oath, and that
" none of them should, for the future, be admitted
" to take it after having once refused to do so, but
** that effectual measures ought to be taken to
" remove such recusants out of the Province." ^

The deputies were informed of this resolution, and
it was at once read out at the church doors to the
people. By the end of July, answer had been
received from all the French settlements to the effect
that they would take no new oath ; the Council *

* Nwn Scotia Archives, 1869, p. 256.

•The Council present at this important session were:
The Lieutenant-Governor, the Hon. Charles Lawrbncb, Major
in Warburton's regiment of foot, was present at both engage-
ments at Louisbourg. Councillor, in 1749, in Gov. Comwallis*s
Cabinet Colonel in 1757. Administrated the Government of
Nova Scotia upon the retirement of Gov. Hopson. Was appointed
Lieutenant-Governor, 1754; GK)vernor-in-Chief, 1756. During his
administration, the first Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia was

^ ' d^O^ CXtM^-€/f},y

The Fall of New France. 39

thereupon decided — at which were present the Eng-
lish admirals, Boscawen and Mostyn — that " as it
" had been determined before to send all the French
" inhabitants out of the Province if they refused to
" take the oath, nothing now remained to be consid-
" ered but what measures should be taken to send
** them away, and where they should be sent to.
" After mature consideration, it was unanimously
" agreed that, to prevent as much as possible their
" attempting to return and molest the settlers that
** may be set down on their lands, it would be most
*' proper to send them to be distributed amongst the

convened at Halifax on the 2nd October, 1758. Died, at Halifax,
Sanday, 19th October, 1760, after eight days* illness, in the prime
of life, of inflammation of the lungs. He was unmarried. The
Legislature voted a monument to his memory, to be erected in St.
Paul's Church, Halifax. **From a grateful sense of the many
'* important services which the Province had received from him
*' during a continued course of zealous and indefatigable endeavors
" for the public good, and a wise, upright, and disinterested
** administration." [Nova Scotia Archives^ p. 236.)

Benjamin Grebn.— Native of Massachusetts ; born 1713. Son to
the Rev. Joseph Green, rector, and a graduate of Harvard. Mer-
chant in Boston. Secretary to Gen. Pepperell at Louisbourg, 1745.
One of Gen. Comwallis's Council in 1749. Treasurer of the Pro-
vince of Nova Scotia. Administrator of the Government in 1766.
Died at Halifax, 1772. {Nova Scotia Archives p. 569.)

John Colubr.— The Hon. John Collier was a retired officer of the
army. He came out with the first British settlers in 1749. Was a

40 The Fall of New France.

" several colonies on the continent of America, and
" that a sufficient number of vessels should be hired
" with all possible expedition for that purpose." *

The die was cast, the irrevocable decree was
issued. Let us pass over, as rapidly as we can, the
harrowing details of the final troubles of a mis-
guided people — far from as perfect and amiable as
Longfellow, in his beautiful dramatic poem, " Evan-
geline," has sung, or that the Abb6 Eaynal, in his
pathetic and romantic narrative, would feign have
us believe ; but sufficiently innocent of mundane
matters to have been happy in their rural retreats
— ^homes of guileless innocence and complacent trust,

jtistice of the peace and militia officer. Appointed Councillor, 1752.
Died at Halifax, 1769.

WiLUAM CoTTBRBiLL.— Capt Cotterell was the first Provost
Marshal, Councillor 1752, and Provincial Secretary.

John Rous.— Master of a Boston privateer. Captain in Royal
Navy, 1745. Present at Louisbourg and Quebec A brave and
intrepid officer. Councillor, October 1754. Died at Halifax, 1760.

Jonathan Bdlchbr. — Second son of Gk)v. Belcher of Massachu-
setts. Graduate of Harvard. Completed studies in England, where
he became a member of the Society of the Middle Temple. Chief
Justice of Nova Scotia in 1754. Administrator of the Government
upon the death of Gov. Lawrence in 1760. Died at Halifax 1766,
aged 65.

By iniMoJlMm, — ^The Hon. Yice-Admiral Bosoawbn and Rear-
Admiral Mostyn.

* NwaScoiia Archives, 1869, p. 267.

The Fall of New France. 41

where commanism in its most favorable aspect ruled
and thrived — were it not for the machinations and
intrigues of their spiritual preceptors ; who, forget-
ting their sacred mission and adopting that of the
political demagogue, obtained easy victims in the
pious, artless, and intellectually deficient Acadian,
incapable of penetrating the delusive chimera they
presented to their vision, of French ascendency once
more in Nova Scotia !

Self-condemned, and without evasion or prevari-
cation, they admitted the allegations brought against
them of allegiance to the French Nation, the open foe
of the English ; of cooperating, assisting, intriguing
with the native Indians, in their more open warfare
upon the English settlers ; and thus, authors of their
own misery, they had now to take the punishment
decreed by retributive Justice, harsh and malevolent
as it may seem.^

^ Extract from Petition of 3500 escaped Acadians, retired to Mira-
michi in spring of 1756, addressed to Qov. de Vaudreuil, Quebec, in
May 1756:—

" The inhabitants of all Acadie, represented by their deputies,
'' have the honor to expose to you their melancholy fatei and that
" into which they are ready to fall, if you do not hold out the hand
" of succor. They beg you to observe (hat the sole cause of their misery is
** their exdusive attachment to France, and tlieir character of subjects of

^ The Fall of New France.

Sufficient to say, the summons from Ool. John
Winslow, to meet in the church at Qrand-Prfi on the
5th September, 1*755, was fully attended by the eld-
ers, who were immediately made prisoners, and
addressed in the following terms : ** Q-entlemen, —
" I have received from His Excellency, Qov. Law-
** rence, the King's commission, which I have in my
" hand ; and by his orders you are convened together,
" to manifest to you His Majesty's final resolutions to
" the French inhabitants of this his Province of Nova
" Scotia, who, for almost half a century, have had
" more indulgence granted them than any of his

** ihaJt croion, which the English have been unable to constrain them to
" renounce. Brought up by their fathers in uniform sentiments of devo^
" tion to their King, whose kindnesses they have on different occasions
<* experienced; can they, without failing in duty to their religion and
" to themselves, gfii;« in to the terms exacted of them, especially at a time
" when France in arms takes openly the part of avenging ihemy etc. Do
'* not their actual misery, that which they have done, and their constant
*• refusal to obey the English, speak in their favor t And do they not
" destroy the bad impressions that some persons have tried to give
'* you in the business of Beaus^jour I Observe, my lord, their
*^ perplexity at that critical period ; alternately intimidated and
" caressed by an English army superior to the French forces, they
" dared neither to act or speak, Bbsidbs, why wbrb thby not led
" against the bnbbiy ?" — (Murdock's Nova Scotia, VoL IL, p. 312.)

The full force of this petition will be better understood by refe-
rence to De Vaudreuirs letter of the 18th September, 1755, to the
Minister of Marine and Justice, published at length in YuL X.,

The Fall of New France. ^3

*' subjects in any part of his dominions ; what use
" you have made of it, you yourselves best know.
" The part of duty I am now upon, though neces-
" sary, is very disagreeable to my natural make and
" temper, as I know it must be grievous to you, who
'* are of the same species ; but it is not my business
" to animadvert, but to obey such orders as I receive,
" and therefore, without hesitation, shall deliver you
" His Majesty's orders and instructions, namely : —
" that your lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds
" and live stock of all sorts, are forfeited to the

N. Y. Colonial Documents, p. 368. This letter ftilly proves the
complicity of the Canadian Government in their effort to raise the
Acadians in open rebellion against English authority.

In the judgment of the court-martial, 20th September, 1757,
upon the Sieurs Vergor and De Villeray for surrendering the forts
Beaus^jour and Gasp^raux, is the following : " Uavis unanime A
** 6t6 de renvoyer les oflaciers absous ; on a eu 4gard pour le fort de
'' Beaus^jour, A ce que les Acadiens ont forc4 le commandant A
** capituler pour assurer leurs vies. lU avaient, autrefoU, priU
" serment de fidSliU d V Anglais, qui les avait menace de les faire
" pendre pour Vavoir vioU" — (Ferland, Caurs d'Histaire de Canada
p. 656.)

(Translation.) The unanimous opinion was to discharge the
Officers absolved, on the ground that they were obliged to surren-
der the Fort de Beaus^jour because the Acadians compelled them
to do so to save their livea They had previously taken the oath of
fidelity to England, who threatened to hang them for having violated it—
(Ferland's History of Canada, p. 556.)

44 l^he Fall of New France.

" Crown ; with all other your effects, saving your
" money and household goods, and you yourselves
" to be removed from this his Province. Thus it is
" peremptorily his Majesty's orders, that the whole
** French Inhabitants of these Districts be removed ;
" and I am, through his Majesty's G-oodness, directed
" to allow you liberty to carry off your money and
** household goods, as many as you can without dis-
" commoding the vessels you go in. I shall do every
*' thing in my power that all these goods be secured
" to you, and that you are not molested in carrying
" them off; and also that whole families shall go in
'* the same vessel, and make this remove, which I am
" sensible must make you a great deal of trouble, as
" easy as his Majesty's service will admit ; and hope
*• that in whatever part of the world you may fall, you
" may be faithful subjects, a peaceable and happy
" people. I must also inform you, that it is his
" Majesty's pleasure that you remain in security
" under the inspection and direction of the troops
" I have the honor to command." ^

Summing up from Winslow's Journal, as pub-
lished by the Nova Scotia Historical Society at pages

1 Wmdov^B JcmmcU, N. a Hist. Soc.. Part ILL, p. 94.

^oft/J^ Wt/n/^crtA)

' / \

C: yV!/ li

The Fall of New France. ^^

*72, 185, 190, 192 : — 5*788 men, women and children
were, all told, thus exiled, from October 1*755 to
January 1*756, with as much humanity as the trans-
port of such a large number of people in small vessels
permitted. Every care was taken to avoid separation
of the families, and this end was attained with but
few disunited family groups ; the few which did
occur, were occasioned by escape from capture.^

The appended copies of orders from Col. Winslow
will be sufficient to show the charitable feelings
with which this urbane commander carried out the
most disagreeable duty (he so often reiterates
in his journal) it was ever his province to execute.
" October 6, 1*755. — ^With the advice of my captains,
" made a division of the Villages, and concluded,
" that as many of the Inhabitants of each as could be
" commoded should proceed in the same vessel, and
" that whole families go together ; and sent orders to
" the several families to hold themselves in readiness

'Some authors maintain that a much larger number were
exiled ; this is impossible, as Acadia, in 1754, only contained 9215
inhabitants all told, and it is admitted that fully 3540 escaped
capture (Cf. Rameau, La, France aux ColonieSf VoL L, p. 42) and set-
tled in Canada and that part of Massachusetts Bay now known as
the State of Maine. (See Petition Note, p. 41.)

46

The Fall of New France.

" to embark with all their household goods, etc., but
" even now could not persuade the People I was in
" earnest. — Orders of the day. Parole Plympton. J.

"WiNSLOW."*

" Camp at Grand-PR^, October 13, 1*755. — ^Whereas
" complaint has been made to me by the French
" Inhabitants that they are greatly injured, as well
" by Seamen as People who come after cattle, etc.,
" These are therefore to direct that no Seaman, with-
" out the Master of the Vessel being with him, or an
" order in writing from the Master, showing their
'* business, be allowed to pass higher than the Dutch-
" man's house, nor on the other side of the Eiver
" Q-aspereau. Nor any Englishman or Dutchman
" stir from their quarters without orders ; that an
" end may be put to distressing this distressed
" people ; and I have given directions to all march-
" ing parties and patrols to pick up all such people
'* as disobey these orders, and bring them to camp
** that they may receive punishment military ; and
" the Masters of Vessels severally are to notify their
" respective Crews of this order. John "Winslow."^

* Winslows Joumalfp, 164.
' Wintloti^s Journal, p. 171.

The Fall of New France, 47

Provision was made in the charter parties of the
Vessels, that not more than one person was to be taken
to two ton's measurement, and ample rictnals were
stored for thirty days passage. Letters to the Q-ov-
ernors of the different Colonies were handed to each
Captain for delivery upon arrival,^ but, unfortunately,
no previous notice had been sent, though the deputa-
tion had been agreed upon by the Commander-in-
Chief of the forces Braddock, and the chief instigator
of the movement Q-ovemor Shirley, of Massachusetts
Bay, who had advocated strongly since 1*745 both
the banishment and the capture of Louisbourg.

They were landed, under these orders, in Massa-
chusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas.
Aliens in language, nationality and religion, they
were not very welcome immigrants, especially from
the circumstances under which they came, and yet
with but few trifling exceptions, they were humanely
treated and supported at public expense ; throwing
into bold relief, the cold and repellant reception the
three thousand refugees who found their way into
Canada met with at the hands of their fellow country-

* See copies in Nwio. Scotia Archives, p. 277. Pennsylvania which
received 1923 of the number, expended over £7500 on their support
of public funds. (Penn. Hist. Soc VoL for 1858, pp. 285 et seq.)

^8 The Fall of New France.

men, who gave them hides and horse-flesh as food,
and scant supply at this, as many of them, it is
recorded on the dark pages of French-Canadian his-
tory, died from starvation.^

Politically speaking, the expulsion was absolutely
necessary, justified and in full accord with the law
of Nations, to such an extent that not even France
itself, nor a solitary Foreign Power, alluded to it, in
its diplomatic relations, or remonstrated, with Eng-
land for the act. Not even is it a cclsus belli on the
part of France, and yet many insignificant and tri-

^ lis furent done r^duits A presque mourir de £aim : le pen de
nourriture qu'ils avaient, la mauvaise quality des aliments, —
lear malpropret^ naturelle,— le chagrin et leur paresse en firent
mourir an grand nombre ; ils furent forc^ de manger du cuir
bouilli pendant une grande partie de Phlver, et d'attendre ainsi
jusqu'au printemps dans Tesperance que leur sort s'am^liorerait ;
c'est en quoi ils furent tromp^ — (Mimoires Swr le Canadxi depuis
1749 ju$qu*d 1760; Quebec, 1838, p. 62. Cf.de MontocUm en Canada,
pp. 111-112.)

(Translation.) They were reduced almost to death by starvation.
The little quantity of food they had ; the bad quality of the provi-
sions, — their natural uncleanliness, — grief and indolence caused
many deaths. They were forced to eat boiled hide during a great
part of the winter, and to abide thus the coming of the spring, in
the hope that their position would then be improved, in which hope
they were much mistaken.— Jfe??iotr« on Canada^ 1749 to 1760.
Quebec, 1838, p. 62. Cf. Montcalm in Canada (by Abb^ Martin), pp.
111-112.

vOR

iw,

K^

The Fall of New France. 4 Q

vial grounds, as compared therewith, are specifically
mentioned in the Declaration of War. Sufficient to
show that France fully recognised that England had
a perfect right to treat her own subjects, when
disloyal, as she saw fit.

Precedents for this deportation unfortunately exist
in all epochs of the World's History. Analogy may
be found in ancient times, in the removal of the
Messenians by the Spartans, and in the dispersal of
the Jewish race by the Bomans. In mediaeval his-
tory, we have that remarkable siege of Calais by
Edward the Third in 134*7, resulting in the expul-
sion of several thousands of the French who refused
to take the oath of allegiance. After 210 years Eng-
lish occupation, France reconquered it, and in turn
expelled unmercifully the English, without the
option of oath-taking to remain.

In more modern times, we have the precedent of
the French in the expulsion of 2500 English Inhab-
itants of forty years standing, — differing from the
Acadians in being men of wealth, intelligence and
culture — from St. Christopher's in 1666 ; sufficiently
justified and heroic to warrant the Q-overnment
striking a commemorative medal— /ot^stmi/e of which
4

^0 The Fall of New France.

is given herein. We have that vain-glorions capture
of New York and Albany in 1689, proposed so
artfully by the Sieur Chevalier de Callieres Bon-
ne vue, Governor of Montreal, to the Marquis of
Seignelay, and adopted by the Court of France in
their instructions to the Compte de Frontenac. By
this proposal, it was intended to capture these two
places, destroy the habitations, lay waste the coun-
try, and '' If he find among the inhabitants of New
" York, whether English or Dutch, any Catholics
" on whose fidelity he considers he can rely, he
" may leave them in their habitations, after making
" them take the oath of allegiance to his Majesty, The
" officers and principal inhabitants, from whom
" ransoms can be exacted, must be detained in prison.
** Respecting all other foreigners, — men, women and
" children — his Majesty deems it proper that they
" should be put out of the colony and sent to New
" England, Pennsylvania and such other quarters as
" shall be considered expedient, either by land or
" sea, together or in divisions, all according as he shall
^^ find will best secure their dispersion and prevent them, by
" retmion, affording enemies an opportunity to get
" up expeditions against that colony." ^ Adopting,
* Documentary History of New York, VoL L, p. 295.

Me'dailles sur le Regme de Louis le Grahd. 99

LES ANGLOIS CHASSEZ DE L'ISLE
DE SAINT CHRISTOPHLE.

JwlsLE dc Saint Chriftophle, abondante en fucre , en tabac, &: au-
tres marchandifcs , eft unc de celles qu'on appelle Antilles , fituce dans
la mcr de TAmcrique mcridionale. Lcs Fran9ois & les Anglois s*y efta-
blirent en 1616. &c pour fc dclivrcr des inconvenients , qu*ils elprou-
voient a la poflcder en comniun , ils s'avifcrent de la partager entre eux
egalement. Chacun jouifToic paifiblcment dc fa moicic , lorfque la guer-
re dc r Angleterre , & dcla France en Europe paffa jufqu'en Amerique ,
& mit aux mains Icurs Colonies. Le Gouverneur Anglois, qui le premier
eut avis de la rupture entre lcs deux Nations, voulut s*en prevaloir, 6c fc
mit en cftat de uirprcndrc lcs Fran9ois. Mais ccux-cy, avertis de Ton def-
fein, par fcs mouvements & par fcs prcparatifs, oferentjquoi qu*infcrieurs
en nombre , le prcvenir j attaqucrent fucceffiyement divers poftes que
la Colonic Angloifc occupoit , &c Ten chaiTcrcnt. Ils ne fc decouragc*-
rent pas mcfme par la more de Icur Chef, tuc des la feconde attaque.
Uspourfuivirent leur entreprifc aufli heureufement qu*ils Tavoient com-
mencce, forccrent lcs ennemis dc rendre par capitulation Icurs Fora^
leur canon, Icurs armcs,& demcurerent leuls poflefleurs d'uncIHc R
importante au commerce des Indes Occidentales. ^

Ceft le fujet dc cctte Mcdaille. On y voit unc Femmc vcftue a F A-
mcricaine, ayant ^ fcs pieds un Bouclicr aux Armcs d*Angletcrrc, 6c ap-

Piycc fur un Bouclicr aux Armes dc France. La Lcgendc , C 01. on i a
RANCORUM STABiLiTA, Hgnifie , U C^loHte Fr4Uif0ifi dffermie.
LExcrguc, Anglis ex Insula Sancti Christophori
EXTURBATis. M. DC. Lxvi. Us AngUh chajfex. dc I'JjIc dt S4iH$Cbri-
Jhfhle tM.

o n

The Fall of New France. ^I

almost verbatim, this same course, the Conncil at
Halifax puts into execution this bold, cruel project,
but against the very originators of it.

Humanly speaking, the dispersal of so many
families, at one fell blow, from fiiends and relations
(not without warning, however, for we find the
English Q-overnment alluding to the i)ossible neces-
sity of the step, so early as the 28th December,
1*720, * and constantly repeated since), was an act of
refined cruelty, our humane feelings at the present
day revolt at. While reciprocal policy, acting
under the Biblical instruction of an "eye for an
eye, tooth for tooth," may condone the act, it is a
healthy sign of advancing civilization and good
augury for the fature peace and welfare of mankind,
that so many important writers of the present day,
sinking historical truths and facts, in their anxiety
to condemn the dei)ortation, combine in lamenting
and execrating this sad event of Nova Scotia history.

The course of the narrative of the expulsion has
somewhat interfered with the order of other impor-
tant events as they arose. In 1*754, France fully
awakened to the fact that England not only intended

» Murdock*8 Nova Scotia, p. 381.

C2 The Fall of New France.

to maintain her i)osition in the wilds of America,
but likewise by sea. She equipped an armament,
under the command of Admirals Macnamaraand Bois
de la Mothe, of eighteen ships of the line and nine
frigates, having on board, ostensibly for Canada,
eleven battalions of troops under Q-eneral Dieskau>
an Hive of Marshal Saxe. England, apprised of this
force being sent, despatched Vice-Admiral Bos-
cawen with eleven ships of the line and one fri-
gate to intercept it en route. Both sailed about the
same time, the 22nd of April, 1155. The French
Ambassador at London being duly notified, replied :
" That his royal master would consider the first gun
** fired at sea in a hostile manner, to be a declaration
" of war.^' ^

The esoteric instructions of the French fleet were
to rendezvous at Chebuctou Harbour, destroy Hali-
fax and then proceed to Annapolis for the same
purpose.* While the instructions were of necessity
secret ; it was well known in Acadia that an
attempt would soon be made by France to recover
possession of the Province. It was this fleet,
so eagerly expected by the Acadians, that gave

* Entick, -EfMtory 0/ fht War, 1765, VoL L, 127.

* Fichon, Memoires wr Cap Breton, 1760, p. 264.

The Fall of New France. 53

rise to the insolent manner in which they addressed
the Council at Halifax, and which led to an immedi-
ate removal of their arms and subsequent dispersal.

Owing to misadventure, some of the French fleet
under Macnamara, had to put back to Brest ; the
remainder met the English ofi* the coast of New-
foundland in a dense fog, avoiding an engagement,
several of them escai)ed by taking the northern route
via Belleisle, — ^the first instance in which it is known
to have been traversed, and which led to this route
being preferred in the future — successfully reaching
their ** harbour of refuge," Louisbourg.

The " Lys " and the " Alcyde " were sufficiently
unfortunate to be compelled to face the guns of the
English frigates "Dunkirk" and "Defiance," and
after five hours close engagement the " Lys " struck
its colors, — a sad premonition of the future downfall
of the Bourbon emblem on the coast of America, —
followed by the " Alcyde," when Hocquart in com-
mand, became Boscawen's prisoner by sea for the
third time, together with <£*76,000 sterling in money,
eight companies of soldiers and several officers and
engineers.*

1 Entick, HitU/ry of the War, 1765, VoL I., p. 138.

54 ^^^ -F^// of New France.

The unexpected rencontre with Boscawen's fleet, the
loss of two of their vessels, and the knowledge that
the garrison at Halifax was considerably reinforced
by the forces brought out by Boscawen ; caused the
abandonment of all attempts to recover Acadia. Die-
skau, after landing a few regiments at Louisbourg,
proceeded to Quebec.

Eeprisals by sea and land naturally followed.

England, with a formidable fleet of one ship of 110
guns, five of 100 each, thirteen of 90, eight of 80, five
of *74, twenty-nine of 70, four of 66, one of 64, thirty-
three of 60, three of 54, twenty-eight of 60, four of
44, thirty-five of 40, forty-two of 20, four of 18, two
of 16, eleven of 14, thirteen of 12, one of 10, besides
a great number of bomb-ketches, fire-ships and ten-
ders ; a force sufficient to oppose the united maritime
strength of all the powers of Europe : — as against that
of France's six ships of 80 guns, twenty-one of 14,
one of 12, four of 70, thirty-one of 64, two of 60, six
of 60, and thirty-two frigates, had very little to fear
by sea.*

1 Tomlin's fiMtory o/ England^ Vol. III., p. 198 ; cf. Entick, Vol.
L,p.2.

The Fall of New France. ^5

General Edward Braddock* was despatched to the
New England Colonies, on behalf of England, with
2000 regulars. He assembled the Provincial Gover-
nors at Alexandria, in Virginia, for a conference; the
result of which was that some of the Colonies agreed
to furnish money and men for the coming contest.
This was of no small import. England, while rich
in naval resources, was sadly deficient as a military
power. Threatened by invasion at her own doors ;
trammelled by obligations to protect the family i)08-
sessions of the Hanoverian Eling ; protector, by treaty
alliances, to many small States, she had as much on
hand as she had men and means to make use of
Without, therefore, the assistance of the American
Colonies at the beginning of the War, her future
as an American Power would have indeed been
problematical. But fortunately the Congress, con-
vened at Alexandria, accepted the War as their own.

With a population of 1,200,000 inhabitants as
against 100,000 in Canada, a crushing issue, if har-
mony of counsel prevailed, could not be long defer-
red. Unfortunately, local jealousies between the

* A maji desperate in his fortune, brutal in his behaviour, obsti-
nate in liis sentiments, intrepid and capable. — WalpM% Memoirs, p.

56

The Fall of New France.

Colonies already existed, and State rights were pos-
sibly even more zealously considered and guarded
then, than they are at the present day. Some
considered the War of no interest to them, and
declined to farnish levies or money. Some wanted
a more prominent hand in the management of the
troops. Some wanted to be generals before they
were soldiers. The result was that the burden fell
on the more willing Colonies of Massachusetts Bay
and New York ; the disparity in population between
the two contending Powers in America was thus
levelled, and the War prolonged beyond all expect-
ation.

The operations for 1^55 were adopted as follows : ^
Braddock, as Commander-in-Chief, was to march from
Alexandria with 2000 men to attack Fort Duquesne,
on the Ohio. Secondly, two regiments were to be
detached by the Hudson Eiver, the Mohawk Biver

* It might be interesting to note that Thomas Pownall, Grovernor
of MaasKchnsette Bay, when upon a visit to England in 1756, laid
before the Rt Hon. Mr. Secretary Pitt the full scheme of operations
which proved so successful, and which were carried out as he map-
ped them. He further enforced on the English Government his
views ; that no peace could exist in America until French domina-
tion was overthrown.— (PotwioiT* Admvai%ixaXi(m of ike Coloniegf
London, 1765, p. 245 et seq,)

The Fall of New France. ^7

and Lake Oneida to Oswego (a British Post on Lake
Ontario) from whence they were to proceed to attack
the new French Fort at Niagara.

Thirdly, a corps of Provincial troops was to be
sent to blockade Crown Point, a post on Lake Cham-
plain, which the French had occupied in force.
Lastly, the di8i>osable troops, regulars and provin-
cials, from Nova Scotia and Massachusetts, about
2000 men, were to attack the French settlements in
the Bay of Fundy, and particularly Fort Beausfejour,
situated on the isthmus connecting the peninsula of
Nova Scotia with the continent, the result of which
latter I have already laid before you.'

This was the first determined scheme of operations,
adopted by unanimous voice, having for its object
the project of total extinction of French power on
American soil, which had occupied the minds of the
New England Colonists, since 1690.

General Braddock, with a detachment of 1200,
pushed on in advance of the main body of his troops,
and reached his bivouac ground about the 8th July,
1766. Though fully forewarned of ambuscades and
surprises, he ridiculed them and while advancing

^ Frkih oj the Wars in Canada, by General Smyth, p. 44.

58

The Fall of New France.

on the following day upon Fort Duquesne, he rea-
dily fell a victim to his own rashness from a force of
850 Canadians under De Beaujeu, and 600 to 100
Indians under Athanase a Lorette Indian and Pontiac
(the celebrated Indian Chieftain of after years), in
which he was very signally defeated, receiving his
own death-wound after five horses had been shot
under him. Seigneur Daniel Lienard de Beaujeu, the
commandant, who had so successfully laid this
ambuscade, a Canadian by birth and an officer of
high intelligence, spirit and promise, most regretfully
fell at the first onslaught. Washington was again
in this defeat, and was among the very few officers
who escaped the slaughter by the Indians which
ensued. Sixty-four English officers and 100 men
were killed and wounded, while the loss of the
French was trivial. The balance of Braddock's com-
mand, under Colonel Dunbar, retreated to Fort
Cumberland, Virginia; form thence they joined
Shirley's force at Albany.*

The effect of so overwhelming a victory for the

^ ( Wol-poU Memoirs, p. 392, states the English loss was thirty offi-
cers killed, thirty wounded ; 300 men killed. There was no scalp-
ing, no torture, no pursuit, and that not more than fifty of the enemy
were slain.)

The Fall of New France. ^9

French, on the excitable nature of the Indian led to
most disastrous consequences and more than any
other cause, alienated them for several years from
English alliances. Their peculiar mode of warfare,
that of detached parties, slaying and scalping the
inhabitants of all isolated hamlets, was immediately
carried out throughout the Pennsylvania and Vir-
ginia frontiers and among the Moravian missionary
establishments in the Ohio Valley, where scenes of
cruelty and torture were of daily occurrence, many
narratives of which, well authenticated, have come
down to us as evidence of this disastrous defeat at
Braddock's Fields.

The expedition against Crown Point was commit-
ted to the care of William Johnson, who became
famous, in the annals of British Canada, in subduing
the unfriendly Indians to British rule. This gentle-
man, a native of Ireland, nephew to Admiral Sir
Peter Warren (the naval commander, in the previous
war, at the taking of Louisbourg 1*745), had long
resided on the banks of the Mohawk River, in the
western part of New York State. He was very popu-
lar with the native races and had an unbounded
influence over them, speaking their language with

6o The Fall of New France.

fluency and marrying, according to Indian rites, into
their family. The English Government depended
entirely upon his ejBForts to obtain alliance with the
different nations and as a reward for same and his
victory at Fort William Henry, Lake Q-eorge, he was
made a Baronet on the 2'7th of November, 1155, and
was voted by the English Parliament a gratuity of
$20,000.

Johnson, in September 1755, advanced with 1200
men to Fort William Henry, where he was unex-
pectedly attacked on the 11th September by Baron
Dieskau, Commander-in-Chief of the French forces at
the head of 2000 men, but successfully defeated them
and made Dieskau (who had been severely wounded)
a prisoner. He was not exchanged, and remained a
prisoner at New York until the Peace of 1768. In
this engagement fell Hendrick, the celebrated Chief-
tain and Orator of the Mohawk race, and Q-rand
Chief of the Six Nations, who, personally friendly
to the English, had joined them with a few followers
the year previous. With exception of the Mohawks,
the Iroquois as a body were more favourable to
the French until 1759. In this very engagement
they were on both sides. This action, though decisive

The Fall of New France. 6l

in favor of the English, was followed by no im-
portant consequence, as it was deemed too late in
the season to proceed against Crown Point.

The utter failure of Shirley's expedition against
Niagara, which reached Oswego only and then
retreated by Albany, closed the campaign of 1755,
which, on the whole, was regarded as disadvantage-
ous to the English in America. By sea, captures
had been made of 300 trading vessels belonging to
France, with about 8000 sailors, which were brought
into the i)orts of England.

Thus ended what might be termed the piratical
year 1755, for in the absence of a declaration of war,
conquests made could not be, by the law of nations,
legitimately retained. The vessels captured were
sequestered and cargoes inventoried, for compensa-
tion to owners later on.

Adversity making strange bed-fellows, was never
better exemplified than in the shuffle now proposed.
Former hereditary enemies were to extend the right
hand of fellowship and work hand and glove in
crushing their former allies. The political map of
Europe was, pro tempore, to be completely metamor-
phosed.

62 The Fall of New France.

France, feeling her inferiority by sea, deter-
mined to attack England through her King,
George II., in his personal property of Hanover.
She at once dispatched an army of 200,000
men to invade this territory. England seeking an
ally, found one in Prussia, who had become estranged
from her of recent years ; her former ally, Austria,
withdrawing from the treaty obligations entered
into with England, on the pretext that the war had
begun in America, in which she had no interest.
Austria then joined France, and was only too glad
to form an alliance with so powerfal a military
nation, who could assist her against Prussia in re-
conquering from the Fatherland the Province of
Silesia, lost in the last war. France also obtained
Russia, Sweden and Poland as allies ; all were until
recently her open enemies, and enemies to each
other. Thus the parties were ripe for the great
War of the Seven Years, destined to encircle the
world in fire and brimstone, and which was form-
ally proclaimed by England on the 18th of May,
1156, and by France in June following, the en-
croachments in America being the burden of both
declarations.

The Fall of New France, 63

Prussia was the chief seat of battle in Europe ;
Canada and the West Indies in America ; India in
Asia. England played but a secondary part on the
European side ; the heat of her battle being felt by
France in America and the Indies. With inexplicable
bad judgment France neglected, in fact abandoned
her colonies, and devoted her attention to the
European conflict, in which she eventually gained
nothing.

The Court of France was singularly constituted at
the inception of this war. Louis XV. had all along
his career abandoned himself to a life of pleasure
and dissipation. With the decadence of the French
power at the death of his grandfather, the youthful
King, under the example of the dissolute Prince
Eegent, never attempted to elevate himself above his
immoral and vicious surroundings. The reflex of
the Court, being an absolute power, upon the people
occasioned an apathy for national glory which was
truly lamentable. France, careless of her interests,
gradually sunk deeper and deeper her prestige and
priority as a commercial and colonizing power of
the l*7th century ! From 1685 to 1*712 the French
fleets had humbled the allied squadrons of England

64

The Fall of New France,

and Holland and for this period only in the worid's
history she held the supremacy of the seas, a legacy
of the great and incomparable commercial minister,
Colbert. But once since was she able to hold her
head aloft from the debasement in which her King
had placed her and then only through the means of
a foreigner and Calvinist, the Marshal Saxe, a vic-
tory which Catholic France reluctantly accepted.
To Richelieu, Louis XIV. and Louvois, Canada owed
its religious nationality, more Catholic than Rome
itself, a nation in which it was death for an heretic
to enter ; " to live in New France is in truth to live
in the bosom of Grod," wrote a pious Jesuit Father.
To Louis XV. all of this was as chaflF before the
wind, a heritage which had no farther value to him
than the revenues he could derive to squander on
his mistresses and pleasures abroad.

The inanition of the Eling had naturally an eflFect
on the Court. But few men of ability or self-respect
would permit themselves to be under the dictation
of the King's mistresses, to whom he had dele-
gated all regal power. Already had begun the con-
flict between State and Parliament, which, as in the
reign of Charles I. of England ended in the complete

.-^OF^

■jy

s:<t

^^y

The Fall of New France. 65

overthrow of the dynasty and the sacrifice of the
succeeding King's head.

France at this time was under the control of Jeanne
Antoinette Poisson, a daughter of a butcher, now cre-
ated Marquise de Pompadour. She was elevated, by
capturing the King's heart, into being the reign-
ing absolute Minister of France and fully exercised
the powers conferred on her. Making and unmak-
ing cabinets, formulating and dissevering political
connections, nominating and dismissing commanders-
in-chief at will, the Marquise was recognized as the
leading power in the Court of France, her ambition
and pride being alone satisfied when addressed by
the Courts of Austria and Spain as "Ma chfere
Cousine."^ For Canada she entertained the senti-
ments of Voltaire, which were equivalent to a prac-
tical abandonmelit of a colony which they were
pleased to characterise as an ice-floe from the North-
em Pole, a country unworthy the sacrifices which
France had already made for it.

Canada at the time of the declaration of war was
governed by Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vau-
dreuil Cavagnal, a native of Canada and son to the

» Guizot's iJwiory 0/ France, VoL V., p. 197.
5

66 TPie Fall of New France.

former Q-ovemor Phillippe de Rigand, Marquis de

Vaudreuil, 1703-25. Doubly a Canadian, having

married into the Deschambault [an old-established

Canadian] family, he was warmly welcomed by the

people. He had also been Lieutenant-Grovemor of

Three Eivers in 1733. Having been for some years

past Governor of Louisiana, with which colony

intimate relations with Canada always existed

its chief settlers having immigrated therefrom,

enhanced by the consanguinity of a large

number of the people of both countries, his

fame, sociability and popular administration had

preceded him. Imitating the Court of France, with

whose ways he was perfectly familiar, he was not

outdone in splendor, luxury, military display and

expenses of every kind. Q-ayarr6, in his History of

Louisiana^ Vol- II., p. 66, says : " The administration

" of the Marquis of Vaudreuil was long and fondly

" remembered as an epoch of unusual brilliancy.

" Remarkable for his personal grace and comeliness,

" for the dignity of his bearing and the fascination

" of his address, he was fond of pomp, show and

" pleasure ; surrounded by a host of brilliant officers,

'* of whom he was the idol, he loved to keep up a

The Fall of New France. 67

•* miniature court, in distant imitation of that of
" Versailles ; and long after he had departed, old
" people were fond of talking of the exquisitely
" refined manners, the magnificent balls, the splen-
" didly uniformed troops, the high-bom young offi-
" cers, and many other unparalleled things they had
" seen in the days of the great Marquis."

Unfortunately, this was blurred by accusations of
malfeasance, which, however, did not afiect his
popularity with the people.

The Intendant General of Canada, or chief civil
officer, was the notorious Francis Bigot, of infamous
memory, who had distinguished himself in his dis-
honorable conduct while acting as Intendant at
Louisiana, prior to lt48 when he was transferred to
Canada. He had great family influence and the
patronage of Madame de Pompadour.

The command of the army had been invested
in Baron Dieskau, but after his capture Louis
Joseph de Saint Veran, Marquis de Montcalm,
Mestre de Camp, a title to-day known as a Cavalry
Colonel, was appointed Commander-in-Chief Upon
his arrival, Canada had an available force of 4200
regulars, augmented later on by 1000 recruits, and

68 The Fall of New France.

16,600 militiamen. The total population could not
have been less than 100,000 souls, including the
army and Indians. ^ The New England Colonies had
a population of 1,200,000, with an available military
force of 60,000 men, but these, like the Canadians,
were not to any extent enrolled or drilled. The res-
pective populations of France and England at this
time were twenty-four millions against twelve — a
relative proportion as existed ever since the colonies
were founded, demonstrating a character in the
English for colonizing truly remarkable, born of that
love for freedom and adventure the Saxon has
always inherited and displayed.

Of the 15,500 Canadian militiamen, not more than
5000 were enrolled and most of these were required
for garrisoning the three cities and other forts during
the absence of the regulars. In one respect, compara-
tively speaking, Canada possessed a more serviceable
militia force than the Americans, inasmuch as almost

^ Ramean, Xa Frarux ava Colonies, YoL II., p. 82, puts tho popula-
tion at about 71,000 souls, including 5000 voyageurs and hunters, 4200
regulars, and 15,500 militia, but omits all mention of the domicil-
iated Indians, fully 15,000 strong I Being converted and civilized,
they were as useful militiamen and guides as the habitants. Due-
sieux, in Le Canada, p. 213, says 82,000 80u]s,

The Fall of New France. 69

every man was by nature a sharp-shooter, by occu-
pation a hunter, after he was old enough to handle a
gun, while the land was tilled and the hand of the
plow was served by the Habitant Dame, the equal of
her husband in husbandry, thus leaving him to the
service of his country and martial fame.

Montcalm, upon his arrival, had not a larger avail-
able force than 8000 men in all. ^ Other authorities
place the regulars at 6800, with 2000 militiamen
enrolled. * His staflF consisted of the Chevalier de
L6vis (Brigadier), afterwards Field Marshal the
Duke of L6vis (a member of a very ancient Langue-
doc family enjoying great influence in France), who
was second in command ; De Bourlamaque (Colonel
of Infantry) third in command, with De Bougainville
(Captain of Dragoons) as Aide-de-Camp.

The Indian allies, undomiciliated and savage,
were not at any time to be depended upon — success
would bring a large number to the front, but dis-
aster would call as quick a desertion. They were
horn politicians and diplomats. Excellent skirmishers,
they were useful as auxiliaries, but never could be
depended upon for regular support. For reasons

* Mcmicodm en Canada^ Martin, p. 18.
'De Bonnechose, Montcalm, p. 81.

70 The Fall of New France.

before stated, the Canadians had more material
assistance from them throughout the campaign than
the English. At one time they numbered as many
as 3000 in their support, but, as a rule, they seldom
assisted in bodies of over 500 to 600 strong.

Gov. Wm. Shirley, who was one of the Commission-
ers engaged at Paris in the vain effort to settle what
was meant by the cession of Acadia to England by
the Treaty of Utrecht and that of Aix-la-Chapelle, had
been recalled and re-assumed the government of Mas-
sachusetts. Being the senior officer, upon the death
of Braddock he became Commander-in-Chief of the
Forces, a position for which he was not adapted by
military knowledge. Making plots and plans on
paper are vastly different to carrying them out in the
field ; hence, his military schemes for the season of
1^56 were grand in conception and theory, but dis-
astrous failures in practice. Ten thousand men were
to advance against Crown Point — 6000 for service on
Lake Ontario, 3000 for an attack on Fort Duquesne
and 2000 to advance up the River Kennebec, destroy
the settlement adjoining the Chaudidre and descend-
ing the mouth of that river within three miles of
Quebec, keep all that part of Canada in alarm.^
1 Minot*B Eiitory of Masiochusetts, VoL L, p. 264.

The Fall of New France. J\

While each of these armies was being pat into
motion, the season had become too far advanced for
action at any one point. Moreover, the British Q-ov-
emment, dissatisfied vsrith a Provincial officer being
at the head of its army in America, determined upon
sending out Greneral Lord Loudoun. While Shirley
was preparing, Montcalm advanced against the three
forts at Oswego, the terror of the French in the Iro-
quois country and which had been their desire to
destroy for many years back ; they likewise com-
manded the entrance to Lake Ontario. The English
had a garrison of 1800 men in these divided between
Fort Ontario under command of Colonel Littlehales,
Fort Oswego (the old fort) under Colonel Mercer, and
Fort George, or Rascal, under Colonel Schuyler, about
a mile distant from each other. Montcalm, with his
army of 2000 regulars and 2500 militia and Indians,
crossed the lake from Fort Frontenac on the 12th of
August and without much opposition captured the
two former forts, the " chamade'' being beat for want
of proper generalship. Fort Q-eorge also succumbed.
The garrison under Colonel Littlehales surrendered
and were immediately transported as prisoners to
Montreal ; the commander, Colonel Mercer, having

72 The Fall of New France.

fallen at the outset. The naval force of eight ves-
sels, mounting sixty-eight guns, under Oommodore
Bradley, were at the mouth of the river, but were of
very little service in defence of the forts. They
were included in the capitulation.

As an evidence of the intrepidity displayed
throughout this war, I would specially mention
that a body of 2500 Canadians and Indians swam
across the river, under a heavy fire, to prevent com-
munication being had by land with Colonel Schuyler
at Fort George — an act of daring and valor nothing
but a native-bom patriotism could engender.

No sooner was Montcalm in possession of the
three forts at Oswego than, with admirable policy,
and an excellent si)eech upon English aggressiveness
and duplicity in dealing with the Indians, he de-
molished them in presence of his Indians allies, in
whose country they had been erected, and whose
suspicions they had excited.^ Before leaving the
ground of his victory, — this being his first conquest
— he had a column erected, upon which he placed

' Holmes' American Annals, 1813, Vol. II., p. 127. Minot and
Mant^, with Williamson^s Life and Pouchot^e Memoirs, all contempo-
rary authors (Williamson and Pouchot being present at the engage-
ment), agree with the above version.

The Fall of New France. 73

the Shield of France, with the inscription,

" Manibus dat^ lilia plonis/'

a legend which was not destined to be fulfilled.^

Shirley was much blamed for this defeat and the
failure of his projects, and lost both his government
and command, being succeeded by John Campbell,
fourth Earl of Loudoun, Baron Mauchlaw, one of the
sixteen Peers of Scotland, with General Abercromby
as second in command — ^both notorious for previous
incompetency, — ^the former the hero of the retreat
from Inverness in 1*745. They were sent out with
considerable reinforcements, and had transferred to
them by Shirley 16,000 men in the field, of whom
6000 were regulars, but with that masterly inactiv-
ity and indecision for which Loudoun was most
renowned, no further movement was made this year.
The year 1*767 was not distinguished by any mili-
tary movements of much moment. It was intended
to attack Louisbourg, Cape Breton, and with this

^ An enormous amount of stores fell into the hands of the
French, viz., 1.S5 pieces of artillery, 1070 musquets, 23,000 pounds
gunpowder, 8000 pounds musquet balls, 2950 cannon balls, 450
bombs, 1476 grenades, twelve months provisions for 4000 men, and
18,954 livres in money.— WiKiam«arw Xi/g, Lond., 1759, p. 87.

74 ^^^ P^^^ of New France.

object Lord Loudoun reached Halifax on the 11th
of July with 6000 regulars and was met with
fresh arrivals from England of 6000 British troops
under Q-eorge Viscount Howe, a squadron of sixteen
ships of the line and eight frigates, under Admi-
ral Holbourn. * After the force was collected at
Halifax, information was received that a French fleet
had lately sailed from Brest for Louisbourg, that
Louisbourg was garrisoned by 3000 regulars, exclu-
sive of militia, and that it was also defended by
eighteen line of battle ships and six frigates, which
were moored in the harbor. Loudoun's apologists
state ; there being no hope of success against so for-
midable a force, the enterprise was deferred to the
next year ; the G-eneral and Admiral, on the last of
August, proceeded to New York, and the Provincials
were dismissed ! !

The renown for bravery with which British
generals and admirals have been always distin-
guished, was here open to the rare exception of
the white feather, and in this war we have to
lament the actions of Admiral Byng at Minorca, for
which he suffered death and that of Lord Loudoun

^ FrtcM of the Wars, p. 61 ; Holmes' American AnndU, p. 188.

The Fall of New France. 75

in the present instance, for which he was justly dis-
graced and recalled by the new Prime Minister and
Secretary of State, William Pitt, leaving the com-
mand with Q-eneral Abercromby. Not only his
military skill, but his courage and integrity were
questioned.* Admiral Holbourn partially redeemed
himself by pushing out, with a part only of his
squadron, to entice Admiral La Mothe to give him
battle in front of Louisbourg, but to this challenge
the French Admiral did not deem fit to comply.

Montcalm, finding himself free from attack, pene-
trated with his army of 7606 men^ to Fort William
Henry, at the head of Lake Q-eorge. Included were
2000 Indians. The fort was garrisoned by 2264 regu-
lars under Colonel Munroe, of the 36th Regiment, and
in the neighborhood there was an additional force of
4600 men under Q-eneral Webb. On the 3rd August
the fort was invested and after a summons to surren-
der was rejected, the attack was begun and contin-
ued with undiminished fervor until the 9th at noon,
when a capitulation was signed. General Webb did
not join Munroe, as he was instructed to do by Aber-

^ Murdock's HisUyry of Nova Scotia, Vol. II., p. 316.
' De MonUxdm, Martm, pp. 64-97.

76 The Fall of New France.

cromby's plans, some cowardice being attributed to
him by contemporary writers.

An incident of the war, which has given rise to a
great deal of controversy and ill-feeling up to the
present moment, was the so-called massacre at Fort
"William Henry, the outcome of the numerous horde
of savages the French had as allies in the engage-
ment.

The natives of America, like their prototype the
Arab of the Desert, have always been noted for their
love of spoliation ; it is, therefore, not surprising that
their opportunity for looting having been prevented
by the surrender, they took the law into their own
hands and committed the depredations of which
De Montcalm and his officers have been unjustly
accused.

On the morning following the surrender, the
garrison was to march out under a proper escort to
protect them from injury at the hands of the Indians.
The evacuation had barely commenced, when a repe-
tition of the looting of the day previous, which
ensued immediately after the capitulation had been
signed, was attempted. An effort being made by the
escort to stop it, some drunken Indians attacked the

The Fall of New France. 77

defile, which resulted in the murdering and scalping
some sixty or seventy of the prisoners ; maltreating
and robbing a large number of others.

Upon a careful investigation of the contemporary
authorities, no blame whatever can be attached to the
good fame of the brave and humane Montcalm or De
L6vis. True it is, the articles of capitulation guar-
anteed a sufficient escort to protect the surrendered
garrison from the fury of the Indians and while the
sufficiency of it may be oi)en to question, it cannot
be denied that a guard of 600, under ordinary cir-
cumstances, would have sufficed. It was clearly the
duty of the English commander to have refused to
open the gates unless he was satisfied ample protec-
tion was accorded. The escort, no doubt, had
become panic-stricken at the ferocity of the attack,
and the officer in charge, St. Luc de la Come, a
Oanadian, whether from incompetence or national
prejudice, did not enforce in time the authority he
should have exercised ; but it must also be remem-
bered that 2000 Indians under the influence of
liquor are not to be governed by friend or foe, and
while possibly some blame may be attached to the
officers in charge of the escort, none whatever can be

78

The Fall of New France.

to Q-eneral Montcalm or De Lfevis, who were at a con-
siderable distance from the scene of the revolt. They
hastened back and distinguished themselves here,
as they did throughout the war — ^notably at Oswego,
where the Indians were with the utmost difficulty
restrained by Montcalm, personally, from making a
similar attack under very similar circumstances — as
milUary officers without a peer in any army for courage^
genius^ heroism and humanity wherever they could be
exercised. " Ball me, but spare those under my pro-
tection," was the thrilling cry of Montcalm, heard
above the din of the savage war-whoop; while,
sword in hand, he penetrated the savage horde and
protected a band of women and children from
massacre.*

Fort Q-eorge, or William Henry, as it was indiflfer-
ently called, like its compeer Fort Oswego, was

^ The event was greatly magnified by contemporary writers, but
the facts seem to me to be in a mean between the outrageous state-
ments of Captain Carver and the Jesuit Roubaud, as evidenced by
the moderate statements of chroniclers of the time, such as Pouchot
in his Memoirs (p. 105, Vol L. original edition); Mant4, History of
the late War, 1772 (p. 95) ; Hutchinson's History of Massachwetts Bay,
VoL III., Lond., 1828, p. 60: ''The prisoners acknowledged that the
" French strove to restrain the Indians, but were overpowered** — ^Minot's
History of Massachusetts Bay, and Bancroft, VoL IL

The Fall of New France. 79

razed to the ground and the army retreated into
their winter quarters at Montreal.

The termination of the year left the French mas-
ters of Lakes Champlain and Q-eorge, together with
the chain of great lakes connecting the St. Law-
rence with the Mississippi ; also the undisturbed
possession of all the country in dispute west of the
Alleghany Mountains.

The destruction of the forts at Oswego and "Wil-
liam Henry left an impression of superiority of the
French nation on the minds of the Indians, which
took years to eradicate. In fact, notwithstanding
the ultimate victory of the English, Pontiac's war,
which ensued after the Peace of 1^63, may be clearly
traceable to these victories.^ Circumstances ha,d
hitherto forced on the French the oflTensive, but only
with the object of protecting their own frontiers.
All this was now to change, and acting entirely on
the defensive, they were to lose with greater rapid-
ity, in the space of two short seasons, all that they
had so easily acquired before by genius, military skill
and prowess.

With a more vigorous hand Pitt determined

^geo FowiholSM Memoirs, Yverdon, orig. ©diU, Vol I., p. 80.

8o The Fall of New France.

to act. ^^ My Lord^ I am sure I can save this
country^ and no one else can" was the egotistic,
bold, yet true assertion of William Pitt in his
opening speech in the House of Oommons upon
announcing his method of conducting the war in the
future.^ True to his word, his method was a radi-
cal change — he wished to aggrandize Britain in gen-
eral, but thought not of obliging or benefiting indi-
viduals ; the day of the men characterized so aptly
by the King as " Apris diner — la motUarde" people such
as the Mordaunts, Oonways, Comwallises, Abercrom-
bies, Byngs and Loudouns, was over ; none but sol-
diers of recognized ability and bravery were to con-
trol the forces of England. His first selection could
not have been more sapient. He returned to the
St. Lawrence, Admiral Boscawen accompanied by
Generals Amherst and Wolfe, three names which
must always take precedence in the rank of Eng-
land's greatest heroes, as they must and will live
for ever in the annals of Canadian history as having
accomplished its greatest political regeneration.

On the 2nd June 1768, there anchored in the
Bay of G-abarus, about one mile and a half to the

* Walpole's Mmairs of George U, Vol. IL, p. 271,

The Fall of New France. 8l

westward of Louisbonrg, 15^ vessels ; but of these
twenty-three only were ships of the line, with eigh-
teen frigates. The force consisted of 12,260 men, under
the control of the three officers before mentioned.

Louisbourg, the pride of France in North America,
was garrisoned by 3080 regular troops, 800 militia
formed of the inhabitants and ^50 Canadians and
Indians,^ under the command of the Chevalier
Drucourt, and I may add, without doing him any
injustice, his brave wife, who daily inspirited the
forces to increased exertions. The marine service
consisted of five ships of the line and seven frigates
with 3,000 men, mounting 644 guns. The fortifica-
tions had cost France over thirty million francs to
build, and were deemed almost impregnable. Over
twenty-five years constant labor had been expended
on them, and during this period they had been but
once assailed, when it took over six weeks constant
attack from an overwhelming force, naval and mili-
tary, before the garrison surrendered and then only,
it is alleged, from mutiny within it. The little
damage done had been repaired when they again

* Diissieux (Le Canada^ p. 190) says 7000 soldiers in all ; but his
distribution of them would imply a force of over 10,000 men,
including Marines.

6

82 The Fall of New France.

reverted to France at the Peace of 1*748, and were
now in first class condition.

The fortifications formed a circuit of nearly two
miles, with four bastions, a citadel, and batteries at
every available point, mounting 221 cannon and
eighteen mortars. The coast line, a craggy shore,
with a restless surge beating against steep, perpen-
dicular hills and barbed rocks, apparently as inac-
cessible as the great engineering masterwork itself,
was covered with earthworks and concealed batteries
at every prominent position, while the harbor was
protected by three special batteries and two inner
ones, all armed to the teeth, as uninviting a spot for
an enemy to try to enter as it was possible for
nature and man together to make.

Such was the result of the reconnoitre exposed to
the view of the three Q-eneral Officers upon their ar-
rival. Even the brave Wolfe hesitated to make the
attempt to land ; but, upon the advice of Boscawen,
who, as Pitt said, " never turned his face from dan-
ger, always being full of expedients and who knew
not the meaning of the word * failure,' " Wolfe was
induced, after waiting six days for the wind to fall,
to take to the boats and lead ofif in the efibrt.

The Fall of New France. 83

The unfriendly surf and the too warm reception
accorded to him by those on the heights, tried his
courage to the utmost, despairing of his chances of
success while the high wind prevailed, he felt con-
strained to beat a retreat ; but he had no sooner done
so than, regretting the step, with characteristic valor,
he turned it into an effectual ruse to cover a further
attempt at a landing, a short distance off, whic^ he
saw a possibility of obtaining. Wading in surf to
their waist, they were successful, to the surprise and
dismay of the enemy, who were totally unprepared
for the act of military daring and superhuman cour-
age the attempt entailed. Surrounded by a hail-storm
of bullets, the valorous Wolfe maintained his ground
behind the protecting aegis of rocks until he was fol-
lowed by the remainder of his army and then soon dis-
lodged, at the point of the bayonet, the enemy before
him ! This " battle of the surf" cost the British 111
killed, wounded and missing, and about 100 boats
with ordnance. The intrepidity of the attack which
followed soon drove the French from each of their
posts in succession ; abandoning their earthworks
and hotly pursued by General Wolfe, they took
shelter under and within the walls of Louisbourg.

84

The Fall of New France.

The historian Entick says : " Such were the incre-
" dible service and extraordinary achievements of a
" day that must be ever glorions in the annals of this
" nation, and convince posterity that no difficulties
" nor dangers arc sufficient to v^ithstand the impetu-
" osity of an English army under efficient leaders."

Time and space will not admit recounting the
many exploits and acts of heroism displayed before
the walls of Louisbourg between the 2nd June and
the 26th July, the day upon which the fortress sur-
rendered to the British arms. To Chevalier Dru-
court, without an adequate navy or army to effici-
ently garrison so extended a line of fortifications,
the contest was a somewhat unequal one, and to
him is due the utmost praise for his persistent,
energetic and heroic defence of France's Dunkirk in
Canada. He surrendered but a ruined fortress and
a desolate town, upon terms not so honorable as were
usually accorded, but such only as could be consist-
ently granted under the present intentions of the
English Ministry to annihilate the French dominion
in Canada ! Thus his army of 6637 regulars, officers,
sailors and marines, were carried prisoners to Eng-
land, while the inhabitants of the Island 4100, as

The Fall of New France. 85

well as those of Isle St. Jean (the present Prince
Edward Island), included in the capitulation, were
transported in English vessels to France. His loss
was 1,600 lives ; that of the English 400.*

The particulars of this victory were immediately
carried to England by Captain Amherst, brother
to the commander, who brought with him eleven
stand of colours. No more welcome intelligence
had entered England since the war began
than that of the fall of Louisbourg. The
colours were, by His Majesty's orders, carried in
pompous parade, escorted by detachments of Horse
and Foot Guards amid kettle-drums and trumpets,
from the Palace of Kensington to St. Paul's Cathe-
dral, where they were deposited as trophies, under a
discharge of cannon and other noisy expression of
triumph and exultation. Indeed, the public rejoic-
ings for the conquest of Louisbourg were diffused

*The garrison and French forces, by the majority of writers, are
put down at 2600 and yet at the surrender they all admit the cor-
rectness of the above figures ! I proving that the place was defended
by 7137 military and naval men in all Garneau, in his usual style
of exaggeration of figures and facts wherever the French interests
are concerned, an unpardonable blemiuh on his otherwise acceptable
History of Canada, states (Vol III., edit. 1848, p. 110) that the Eng-
lish force consisted of 30,000 men, while the French had only 2100
regulars, 600 militia, while he, contradicting his own figures, admits
at p. 118 that 5600 formed the garrison which surrendered. See
also Ferland's Covrs d'Eistoiredu Canada, p. 561.

86 The Fall of New France.

through every part of the British dominions and
addresses of congratulation were presented to the
King by a great number of flourishing towns and
corporations. A day of public thanksgivishg was
appointed and services in praise of the event were
held throughout the kingdom.

In the New "World, the importance of this victory
was felt to be such as tending to the eventual fall of
New France, that the joy and delight of the English
colonists knew no bounds ; finding vent largely in
numberless thanksgiving services and prayer assem-
blies, the records of which have come down to us in
innumerable editions of their most popular preach"
ers' addresses, which were ordered to be printed at
the public expense.

The other military operations in 1*758 were unim-
portant in results. It was intended to dislodge the
French from Ticonderoga and Crown Point by an
army 16,000 strong (7000 of whom were regulars),
under Major-Q-enerals James Abercromby and Lord
Howe, and to send a fresh expedition against Fort
Duquesne, the scene of the unfortunate exploit of
General Braddock. For the latter, some 7000 men
were placed under General Forbes.

The Fall of New France. 87

The former was not a success. Embarking on
the 6th July, in 1036 boats/ at the spot where the
ill-fated Fort William Henry stood the year pre-
vious, Abercromby disembarked the next morning
about two miles from Fort Ticonderoga, or Carillon
(as the French called it), and which he determined
to carry by assault. Here they were met by Mont-
calm with 2970 regulars, 101 Indians and 487 mili-
tia. He was subsequently joined by De Lfevis with
400 regulars, 1600 Canadians and Indians.^ From the
6th July in the morning until the 9th, Abercromby
invested this fort, but strange to say his shot fell short
of its mark, his attacks futile and notwithstanding
his numerical superiority, he was defeated in several
engagements his brave opponents met him with.
Carillon must have had indeed a Divine protection,
to have saved it and its garrison from instant des-
truction from such an overwhelming force. Inex-
plicable as it may seem, Abercromby retreated in a
complete rout and most disorderly state, so much so,

^ What a regatta for Lake George and beautiful panoramic view
this must have been, with the handsome uniforms of the Royal
Artillery, the 27th, 42nd Highlanders, 44th, 46th. 55th, Ist and 2nd
Battalions of Royal Americans (the 60th), commingled with 9000
Provincial troops.

' DuBsieux (Lt Ootiuida, p. 331, e< «eg.) gives a force of 5300.

88 The Fall of New France.

that had he been followed by Montcalm, he would
not have escaped without a tremendous loss of life.
That Montcalm did not take advantage of his posi-
tion, is a further evidence of his humanitarian prin-
ciples of warfare. The English loss was 1947 officers
and men killed and wounded, including Lord Howe,
who fell on the first day, an officer universally ad-
mired and lamented, and who had already become
beloved by his army for his valour and respected for
his military knowledge; the French loss was 494
men killed, with about 1100 wounded. The
Canadian militia loss was, in addition, eighty-seven
killed and 240 wounded. Fortunately, Abercromby
was immediately recalled, as it was to his want of
ability and capacity the English rightly attributed
this striking defeat. He was fifty-two years of
age, of heavy build and lethargic, and prematurely
old in appearance. By temperament he was wholly
unfit for the great heat incurred in the bush in the
month of July ; enervated thereby, it is no wonder
failure was a result. He had already expressed
himself unfit for American service, and eagerly
looked for his recall.

To this day, the French Canadians are fully justi-

The Fall of New France. 89

fied in commemorating so providential and un-
exampled a victory as that of Carillon, by
carrying aloft the "Drapeau Blanc," the charmed
flag which shot and shell could not penetrate,
conserved religiously in the National Sanctuary
at Quebec/

Col. Bradstreet, with 8000 men, a contingent
from Abercromby's defeated army, partially re-
deemed themselves by a forced march upon Fort
Frontenac, which, being garrisoned by only 160
men, capitulated after making but a slight resistance.
A large part of the spoils obtained at Oswego were
here recaptured.

Forbes, upon reaching Fort Duquesne, on the 24th
November, obtained an easy conquest — ^the garrison
of 600 men, under De Idgneris, recognizing the
impossibility of defence against so large an army,
satisfied themselves by repeating against Bouquet,
in command of a vanguard of Forbes' army, the

^ For this victory, Montcalm waa made Lieu tenant- General and
decorated with the Grand Cross of St Louis ; De L^vis, Mar6chal
de Camp, and all other officers promoted a grade.

A very beautiful poem has been produced on this theme, worthy
of as everlasting fame as the victory itself, from the pen of Joseph
Octave Cr§mazie, a Canadian, entitled '' Le Drapeau de Carillon."

go The Fall of New France.

snccesafal ambuscade of De Beanjeu against Brad-
dock and then burned and vacated the Fort as
Forbes approached. From these smouldering ashes
and settlers from Forbes' army arose, phcenix-like,
an embryo city which they named Pittsburgh after
the great Minister, — a sole monument of the Fall
of New France, which was crealed by it and has
come down unchanged in name in direct memento of
the memorable events which contributed so much
to the welfare of this country and the French inha-
bitants of the Province. Forbes, a much esteemed
Scotch Officer, fell a victim to this fatiguing
expedition, and lived but to reach his home at Phila-
delphia in the following January.

The campaigns of 1*758 closed the career of
France on 'the St. Lawrence, in the valley of the
Ohio and northern Mississippi. The falling of Fort
Frontenac dealt it a death-blow on the Lakes, which
rendered it open to easy conquest in the following
season. The outlook was dark indeed, and raised
the first cry from the Colony to its Mother Country
for peace, or an adequate supply of forces to cope
with England, before all were sacrificed and lost. A
vain cry to the heedless, degenerate King who occu-

The Fall of New France. QI

pied the throne of France nnder the selfish aphorism,
up to which he was living, " Apris moi — le dHuge^^

The census of February 1*769 gave a total popula-
tion in Canada of 82,000 souls, with 20,000 men able
to carry arms. * The Quebec forces in April are stated
to be 3686 regulars, 1600 colonial troops, with 3600 mi-
litia, and a body of hunters, trappers, Indians, etc., of
no fixed residence, amounting to 11,900 men in all.*

The dissensions in the Colony at this time were
most painful, the civil and military authorities
being as much at open warfare as the troops
of the two different nations. The state of society
at the capital and other centres was depraved
in the extreme. Licentiousness, gambling, pecu-
lation and other vices were the rule and indeed

^ The very walls of Versailles, the residence of the King, were

placarded with doggerels, among which were many of a most

treasonable character. All more or less pointed to the feminine

influence over the King, in such couplets as these : —

" fiateaox plats 2l TendrOtt | " France^ le sexe femelle

SoldaU ik loaer, Fit toujours ton destin,

Ministres ^ pendre, I Ton bonheur vint d'ane Puoelle,

G6n4raux a loner.'' I Ton malheur vient d'ane oatln."

t Beftning to the numerotu boata built for the inYasIon of England, but nerer used. This
•cheme originated witli Madame de Pompadour — Walpole's Memoira of Oeorge II, Vol. II.

' Rameau, La France ava Colonies, p. 86 and notes. This would
not include the regular army and domiciliated Indians, ahout
25,000 in number. See note, p. 68, on the same subject

' De Montcalm en Canada, p. 172. These figures are clearly an
underestimate.

g2 The Fall of New France.

fashion. The Intendant Bigot, imitating his Eoyal
master, kept open court in the valley of the St.
Charles, and not to be outdone by Versailles, had his
Pompadour in the person of Madame P6an, whose
husband (as he had not the power to elevate to the
ranks of the aristocracy) he rewarded by constituting
a sharer in his plunder of the public chest. So openly
was this perpetrated that the people nick-named their
establishments, both at Quebec and Montreal, " Zres
Friponnez^'' * The Q-ovemor-General and La Marquise
were participants in many of these innocent amuse-
ments, as they were then regarded; and both had
become most unpopular, being universally detested
by the people for pride, avarice and cruelty.^

Their conduct in Canada gives color to the
public accusations laid against them by the
Intendant, Michel de la Eouvilliere, of Louisiana in
1*751. In his official statements and declarations to
the Home Government, he stated : " There is no
" question but that the Q-overnor is interested, for
" one-third, in the profits made at the post of Tom-
" becbee, where De Grand Pre commands, and that

' MayhevfB Sermon on the Reduction of Oanada, Boston, 1760, p. 40.

The Fall of New France. 93

" he has the same interest in all the other posts,
" nobody doubts it here. The commanders at the
" posts are all Canadians, who are his creatures, or
" who are kinsmen or relations of his own or his
" wife. Mr. de Pontalba, the only one who does not
** belong to this gang, holds the Government of
** Pointe-Coupee, solely because he shares his profits
" with the Q-ovemor's lady. I have it from his own
" mouth. Such are the causes which increase the
" expenses beyond the Intendant's control. There
" is no discipline ; the most indulgent toleration is
" granted to the soldiers, provided they drink their
" money at the licensed canteen. It is Mr. de Belle-
" isle, the Aid-major, who has the lease and adminis-
" tration of the liquor shop, and who gives for it a
" certain sum to the Major — others say to the Gover-
" nor's lady ! What is positive is, that Mr. de Vau-
" dreuil has drawn upon the treasury for ten thous-
" and livres of his salary as Governor, which he has
" given to Mr. de Belleisle, and it is with these funds
" that the supplies of the liquor shop have been
*' bought. Moreover, Madame de Vaudreuil is capa-
" ble of carrying on a still baser kind of trade. She
" deals here with every body, and she forces mer-

94 ^>^^ Fall of New France.

" chants and other individuals to take charge of her
" merchandise, and to sell it at the price which she
" fixes. She keeps in her own house every sort of
" drugs, which are sold by her steward, and in his
" absence she does not scruple to descend herself to
" the occupation of measurement, and to betake her-
'* self to the ell. The husband is not ignorant of
" this. He draws from it a handsome revenue, to
" obtain which is his sole wish and aim. The first
" use which has been made of your Excellency's
" order to put a cadet in each company, was to
" bestow these favors on new-born children. There
" are some, between fifteen months and six years
" old, who come in for the distribution of provi-
"sions."^

Certain it is, that in the trial which ensued in 1*768
upon the return of the Q-overnor to France, while he
was acquitted and released from the Bastile, Ac was
demuled of his fortune^ and died broken-hearted the
ensuing year.

The Colony must have been throughout, in a
truly deplorable moral condition, for there prevailed
the most shameful venality, the stream of corrup-

^Ettiory of Lowtana^ C. Gayarr6, pp. 5M1, Vol I.

The Fall of New France. Q^

tion originated in and ran down from the upper
regions of society. But there were exceptions!
Montcalm and his colleagues, De L^yis and De Bou-
gainville, openly refused to be participants or coun-
tenance these shameless orgies. They thus incurred
the personal dislike of the libertinous civil court and
of its chiefs, the Q-ovemor and Intendant. Matters
had come to such an open rupture that Montcalm
begged his recall, while De Vaudreuil censured his
conduct in his of&cial despatches and plainly inti-
mated that he could not get along with him ^ a
military adviser. The Court of France, no doubt
with the despatches of 1*751 from Louisiana fresh in
its mind, placed but little reliance on the Q-over-
nor's complaints and commanded that Montcalm
should remain at his post, the Q-overnor being told
that in all military matters he was subservient to
the Lieutenant-Q-eneral of the Army, to which grade
Montcalm had been promoted.

Accepting this command as a favorable augury of
support, Montcalm thought possibly, a personal
appeal would now be more efficacious than letters,
and thereupon sent De Bougainville as a special
emissary to the Court, to lay before them the abso-

^6 The Fall of New France.

lute necessity for reinforcements being sent at once,
as well as provision and ammunition ; otherwise, the
Colony must succumb to superior numbers. This
appeal was very coldly received, in the face of disas-
ters France had met with throughout the world.
Senegal and Goree conquered in Africa^ — Madras
and Pondicherry in India, — Martinique and Q-uada-
loupe in the West Indies, while the Army of West-
phalia triumphed at Madden. Everywhere, save
in Canada, her armies were defeated. Berryer, the
Colonial Minister, replied : " Monsieur, quand le
" feu est & la maison on ne s'occupe pas des 6curies.
" On ne dira pas du moins, que vous parlez comme
" un cheval," repariit hardiment de Bougainville.^
The result of his mission was to obtain 826 recruits !
and seventeen ships loaded with ammunition and pro-
visions, and which arrived in the harbor of Quebec
on the 10th May ! He returned charmed with the
graces of Madame de Pompadour, who promoted him
to the grade of Colonel. It may readily be conceived
the distress of Montcalm upon finding the result of
this mission, upon which he had built his hopes.

^ Translation.—" Sir, when the house is on fire, we do not bother
•* with the sUbles." To which Bougainville boldly replied : " We
"^ could not say, at least, that you speak like a horse."

0^6opui^'ny^£.

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The Fall of New France. 07

It was clear now, Canada was to be sacrificed for
European prestige, — the very provisions sent were
just one-fourth of what was required to supply the
Colony, as husbandry had been largely neglected of
late seasons and but little was left in the granaries
of the country.

Nothing now remained but to make the best use
possible of the small force of regulars, and exhort
the people to the rescue. Loyalty, courage, patriot-
ism and honour were not lacking, at least in the
military commanders France was fortunate enough
to have in Canada.

Summoning the people, by patriotic and religious
appeals, exhorting them to protect their wives, their
children and their goods from the fury of the here-
tics, a large concourse, about 25,000, was obtained
within the gates of Quebec from youths of twelve to
patriarchs of eighty. Every one, I have no doubt,
even Amazons capable of pulling a trigger, was
there in support of their dear city, their reli-
gion, their homes and their flag, in answer to
such entreating appeals from their beloved Bishop.
"With such a multitude of willing workers, it
is no longer a question of wonderment that within
1

98

The Fall of New France.

four weeks a chain of earthworks, intrenchments,
redoubts and batteries were erected along the
heights of the St. Charles and the St. Lawrence,
from the walls of Quebec to the Falls of Montmo-
renci, a distance of fully nine miles in a direct line,
while additional works of the same nature were
erected on the heights of Abraham, extending to
Cap Eouge and along the base of the cliflF. In fact,
every available inch was fortified and protected by
fully 17,000 zealous patriots who remained under
arms to share the burdens of the campaign.^

Such was the vision of Wolfe upon arriving with
his 8600 men all told,* inclusive of the marines
(1300), in the twenty -two ships of war, five frigates,
seventeen sloops and numberless transports, store-
ships, traders and other attendants, which cast
anchor at the Island of Orleans between the 26th.
June, 1*759, and the 4th July, under the command
of Admirals Saunders, Durell and Holmes.

* Memoirs S, de C, Ferland's Canada, p. 586. Knox^s Campaigns :
(A Priest says 22,000, Vol 11, p. 165.) C£ Vol. 1, pp. 309, 318, 326.
Viger's MSS., p. 13 : Twelve hundred men in Quebec garrison ; over
15,000 outside.

■ Captain Knox, Campaigns in America, Vol. I., London, 1769, pp.
256-340; General Smythe's Pricis of the Wars in Canada, p. 71;
Entick, Vol IV., states 7000 as the full number of effective men.

L

The Fall of New France. QQ

This magnificent fleet of 1886 guns had been tele-
graphed, in its advance stages from Cap des Rosiers,
near Q-asp§, to Quebec by means of the ancient system
of telegraphy, or signals, from ship-masts and balls
erected on the highest points of land, for day use,
and by bonfires at night, ^ spreading consternation
and the wildest alarm among the small force of
regulars the brunt of the defence would depend
upon, the entire navy in the country consisting of
ten frigates and six armed merchant vessels, with
about a dozen of unimportant trading ships, in all
mounting about 300 guns, the senior officer of
which was Captain Vauquelin, of the " Atalante."
To add to the mortification of the French officers and
army, the English fleet comprised many captures of
their own vessels, making possible the well known
tale that they were facilitated in navigating the St.
Lawrence by displaying French colors on the French
vessels, sent in advance of the others, by which they
captured pilots, who were compelled at the peril of
their lives to conduct the vessels on their route.*

' A system in use in Canada until 1844, when it was superseded
by electricity.

' Denis de Vitr6, a Canadian who entered the marine of France
and became Commandant of *' La Benomm^/' thirty-nine guns

100 The Fall of New France.

Notably among these was the " Alcyde," bearing the
same name and guns as when she succumbed to
Boscawen's prowess at the first shot of the war by
sea in 1755.

"Wolfe foresaw that he would be compelled to
attack from the north side of the Montmorenci and
dislodge the enemy foot by foot, with three rivers to
ford — the Montmorenci, Beauport and St. Charles —
an herculean task his small force could not well
undertake. It had been contemplated that Q-eneral
Amherst, who was to advance by way of Lake
Champlain with his invading force of 11,000 men,
would find the road so open that he would join
Wolfe in his attack upon Quebec about August. It
was therefore determined to abide his coming, and,
in the meanwhile, to harass the besieged as much as
possible by shot and shell.

Point L6vi8 was occupied without opposition about
the 21st of July, and a battery immediately erected,

was captured in 1757, and has been credited by Gamean (p. 172,
Edit. 1848, Vol. Ill) and other historians with having piloted the
fleet up the St Lawrenoe. In bis MS, Memoirs, unpublished in
my library, he successfully refutes all such accusations, though he
was threatened with death, if he refused. He was saved through
Townshend's intercession, and states that the piloting was done by
Canadian fishermen voluntarily.

The Fall of New France. lOI

from which the storming of Quebec, assisted by the
navy, was kept np incessantly by night and day.
Vessels were sent up and down the river, destroying
the habitations of the people, reprisals for scalping
and other acts of cruelty daily reported to the camp,
but women and children were to be treated with
humanity, otherwise death would be the punish-
ment, was the Q-eneral Order issued by Wolfe.*
Foraging parties most successful in their expedi-
tions, supplying the army, for a considerable time,
with abundance of fresh meat, poultry and dairy
produce ; belying the statements of Bigot and others,
that the Colony was so reduced in supplies that the
people were obliged to live on horse meat and salt
cod, and that starvation stared them in the face. In
one of these expeditions, a number of French Cana-
dian ladies of the first families were brought captive
to Wolfe's headquarters ; where, amid tears and pro-
testations, fearing ill-treatment, they were, much to

^Knox'% Campaignsy Vol. L, p. 313,— General Orders: "No
" Churches, Houses, or buildings of any kind, are to be burned or
*' destroyed without orders ; the persons that remain in their habi-
" tations, their women and children, are to be treated with human-
" ity ; if any violence is offered to a woman, the offender shall be
" punished with death.''

102 The Fall of New France.

their surprise, most regally entertained, and returned
under a flag of truce to the garrison of Quebec — an
act of gallantry and favor which did much to cement
the feeling of satisfaction and friendship, which
ensued after the Conquest, between the Quebec
people and Wolfe's army. The time was thus
employed awaiting Amherst. Numerous skirmishes
had taken place between the outposts of both armies,
but no move of any serious moment had been made
by either army.

Wolfe determined, on the 81st July, to venture
an attack upon the Beauport heights, the only
important engagement which supervened between
his arrival and that of the battle of the 13th Septem-
ber. The design was to capture a redoubt command-
ing the Montmorenci and force the French forces to
an open battle. Availing himself of a high tide and
covering the landing by a furious cannonade from
the three vessels Saunders brought up the shallow
channel, part of the troops landed and formed into
squares, but a precipitous rush from the Grenadiers,
without orders, and a tempest of rain coming down,
caused him to beat a hasty retreat with a loss of
448 killed and wounded ; the French loss being 200

■ s ■

The Fall of New France. IO3

killed and wounded. In the General Orders of the
day, he blames the Grenadiers for their precipitous
and irregular attack and attributes to them the
defeat which followed. He highly compliments
Amherst's regiment, under the command of
Major P. M, Irving, and the Highlanders, " who,
" by their soldier-like and cool manner they were
" formed in, would undoubtedly have beat back
" the whole Canadian Army if they had ventured
** to attack them. ^ Be this as it may, sufficient
was shown by the venture of the impregnability of
the French lines on that side.

Constitutionally weak and dispirited by ill
success, disappointment and anxiety, the summer
waning, Amherst not heard from, the brave
General succumbed to a chronic malady of
gravel and rheumatism, and was confined to
a bed of serious illness. His brigadiers, Monck-
ton, Townshend and Murray, took command, and in

*A view of this attack is given on the opposite page, the
squares representing the regiments above complimented. The
vessels in the offing are the " (Centurion " sixty guns, on board of
which Admiral Saunders hoisted his flag and did considerable ser-
vice in covering the landing, and two armed transport boats, which
stood a very heavy fire and did vepy effectual service, their
commanders being complimented in the General Orders*

104 '^^^ /^^// of New France.

a council they decided upon the attempt to land on
the south-west side and invite an open battle. As
soon as Wolfe recovered he was informed of this
resolution, and upon a personal reconnoitre approved
of it. Removing his camp from L'Ange Q-ardien to
L§vis ; "Wolfe, receiving a message from Amherst,
that he could not carry out the campaign agreed
upon and that he would have to rely entirely upon
his own resources, resolved upon an immediate
attack, as the fall season was rapidly coming on and
his fleet would have to retire. He looked with
envy upon the Heights of Abraham as the spot
most eligible, but how to get there was the question.
Notwithstanding the vigilance maintained by a
corps of light cavalry and infantry, 3,000 in number,
under De Bougainville, set to watch that he did not
obtain a landing ; by a successful ri^se, on the night of
the 12th September, "Wolfe with Generals Monckton
and Murray and 1500 picked men, landed between 1
o'clock and 3.80 in the morning at L'Anse au Foulon
(Fulling Mill Creek), in what is now known as Wolfe's
Cove, the place shown to him by Maj. Stobo. ^ Pull-

* Major Robert Stobo, in his Memoirs, p. 70, takes credit for
having suggested this landing place to Wolfe. Having been a

The Fall of New France. 105

ing themselves up the steep precipice of 250 feet
in height, tree by tree, man by man, while the
path-way was invisible and unknown to them they
noiselessly reached the summit, protected by a
redoubt and 100 men, where DeVergor, the Com-
mander, inert and unsuspicious, was captured and
his men surrendered after a few shots only from the
sentinels had been fired ! ^

The heights were thus gained in a miraculous
manner, in which the hand of Providence was clearly
visible ; for within gunshot echo was De Bougainville,
with the flower of the French light cavalry and infan-
try, over 2000 strong, busily engaged watching the
antics and diversions of Admiral Holmes ; a strategy
successfully employed to cover the noiseless descent
of Wolfe with his advance guard of 1500 picked men,
who were silently proceeding to the landing place

hostage prisoner at Quebec for a considerable time) he had oppor-
tunities of discovering its weak spots, and possibly his statement
is true.

Ut has been the custom to accuse DeVergor of treachery ; but of
this, his acquittal may be read in the words of the contemporary
account written by the Superioress of the General Hospital, Que-
bec, as follows (translated): — "They landed on giving the pass-
" word; the oflBcer, De Vergor, detected the deceit, but too late.
" He defended his post bravely with his small band, and was
" wounded."

I06 The Fall of New France,

and evading the numerous guards and sentinels they
met on the way by repeating in French, a chance
forethought that they were bringing supplies to the
city ! ! Within a radius of three miles, on either side
of the landing, were numerous pickets and sentinels,
below and above, yet none alive to the danger to their
country their lack of alertness entailed.

The vantage ground obtained, the balance of the
force, under Townshend, from Point L6vis joined.
By day-break the army, 4828 strong, ^ was formed in
battle array, with two pieces of cannon in the centre.
The position was : On the first line — the 36th to the
right, in a circular form, on the slope of the hill ; 58th
to the left ; Grenadiers to the right, *78th to the left ;
28th to the right, 4Yth to the left ; 43rd in the cen-
tre. Generals Wolfe, Monckton and Murray on the
first line. ^ The second column was composed of the
16th and two battalions of the 60th, under Towns-
hend, with a reserve of the 48th under Colonel Bur-
ton, the whole drawn up in four divisions, separate

* Knox, Oampaigti in America, Lon., 1769, Vol. IL, p. 74 ; Wright'8
Ufe of Wolfe, p. 580.

' The actual force engaged, which turned the French column,
and to whom the victory belongs, were those on the first line,
numbering 2865 men in alL

The Fall of New France. 107

and distinct from each other, and of about equal
strength.

General Montcalm, apprised of the successful
footing obtained by the English, at first could not
credit it. He little suspected that the incessant can-
nonade kept up by Admiral Saunders throughout
the night on the Beauport Flats, and which had pre-
vented him from retiring in the supposition that it
was meant to cover an attempt at a landing of the
forces at this point, in reality meant a feint to divert
attention from the landing at Wolfe's Cove ! ! Only
too true ; there they were, already drawn up and
coolly awaiting his attack. Without thought or
reflection and overcome with surprise at the auda-
city with which they had gained their posi-
tion, he immediately summoned the entire garri-
son to follow him to the attack. ^ In this, however,
he was thwarted by the enmity* of the Governor-
General, De Vaudreuil, who remained in camp
and retained around him a large body of the

* ** S'il faut done combattre, je vais les totwer." " If we most
" fight, I will crush them."— Walpole, Memoirs George IL, Lon., 1822,
p. 386.

*8ome intimate poltroonery and incapacity. — Cf. S, de C,
Memoires wr le Canada, pp. 126, 166.

108 The Fall of New France.

forces, ' while the Commandant of Quebec City, De
Eamezay, would neither leave his fortress nor send
cannon to Montcalm's assistance.

Thus Montcalm had but a portion of the troops with
him. Lfevis, his trusty right-hand friend and coadju-
tor, had been sent by the Governor-General with 1200
men to the attack of Amherst after the victory of Beau-
port on the 31st July, in which he had participated ;
while Colonel De Bougainville with his force was
watching Admiral Holmes' by-play, as before stated.
A courier, sent by Montcalm, brought De Bougain-
ville hastily to the scene of battle ; and there can be
no doubt that he took an active part in the
engagement. ^ The actual force Montcalm had with
him in the battle is difficult to determine. Com-
paring the authors and dissecting the conflicting
statements made, I lean to the beli3f that there
were 1940 regulars, 6000 militia 500 Indians, and

^ Memoirs of 8, de C, iUdy p. 165.

*Knox, who was present, distinctly asserts the fact, which
Entick and others fully corroborate, Vol. IV., pp. 116-120; Mant6,
p. 257 ; also Annual Register, 1759, p. 41.

Without motive or design, the narrative of Captain Knox, writ-
ten at the time from pergonal participation and knowledge, com-
mands our serious acceptance of its truthfulness ; it bears ita own
imprint, and admits of no denial."

The Fall of New France. lOQ

De Bougainville's force, about 2000, making, in all,
9,440 men. Captain Knox, the eminent and im-
partial historian of this battle, who was present,
states: — "The French had now (Y a.m.) likewise
" formed the line of battle a straight front, six
" deep, and got some cannon to play on us with
** round and canister shot ; but, what galled us
" most was a body of Indians and Canadians
" concealed in the corn opposite to the front of our
" right wing, and in a coppice that stood opposite
** to our centre, inclining towards our left ; but
" Colonel Hale, by Brigadier Moncton's orders,
" advanced some platoons alternately from the 47th,
" which, after a few rounds, obliged these skulkers
" to retire ; we were now ordered to lie down, and
" remained some time in this position. About 8
'* o'clock we had two pieces of short brass six-
" pounders playing on the enemy, which threw
" them into some confusion and obliged them to
" alter their disposition, and Montcalm then formed
" them into three large columns ; about 9, the two
" armies moved a little nearer each other. The light
" cavalry made a faint attempt upon our parties at
" the battery of Sillery, but were soon beat off, and

no The Fall of New France.

" Monsieur de Bougainville, with his troops from Cap
" Rouge, came down to attack the flank of our second line^
" hoping to penetrate there ; but by a masterly disposition of
" Townshend, they were forced to desist, and the Third
" Battalion of Royal Americans was then detached
" to the first ground we had formed on after we
" gained the heights, to preserve the communication
" with the beach and the boats.

" About 10 o'clock, the French began to advance
" briskly, in three columns, with loud shouts and
" reversed arms, two of them inclining to the left of
" our army, and the third towards our right, firing
" obliquely at the two extremities of our line, from
" the distance of 130 yards, until they came within
" forty yards, which our troops withstood with the
" greatest intrepidity and firmness, still reserving their
'* fire, and paying the strictest obedience to their offi-
" cers ; this uncommon steadiness, together with the
" havoc which the grape-shot from our field-pieces
" made among them, threw them into some disorder,
" and was most critically maintained by a well-timed,
" regular and heavy discharge of our small arms,
" such as they could no longer oppose ; thereupon
" they gave way and fled with precipitation, so that,

The Fall of New France. Ill

" by the time the smoke was vanished, our men
" were again loaded, and profiting by the advantage
" we had over them, pursued them almost to the
" gates of the town, and the bridge over the
" little river, redoubling our fire with great eager-
" ness, making many officers and men prisoners.
" The weather cleared up, with a comfortably warm
" sunshine ; the Highlanders chased them vigor-
" ously towards Charles River, and the 58th to the
" suburb close to John's Grate, until they were
" checked by the cannon from the two hulks ; at the
" same time a gun, which the town had brought to
" bear upon us with grape-shot, galled the progress
" of the regiments to the right, who were likewise
" pursuing with equal ardor, while Colonel Hunt-
" "Walsh, by a very judicious movement, wheeled
" the battalions of Bragg and Kennedy to the left,
" and flanked the coppice, where a body of the
" enemy made a stand, as if willing to renew the
" action ; but a few platoons from these corps com-
" pleted our victory.

" Then it was Brigadier Townshend came up,
" called off the pursuers, ordered the whole line to
" dress and recover the former ground.

112 The Fall of New France,

" Our joy at this success is inexpressibly damped by
" the loss we sustained of one of the greatest heroes
" which this or any other age can boast of, General
" James Wolfe, who received his mortal wound, as
" he was exerting himself at the head of the Louis-
" bourg Q-renadiers, and expired upon the field of
" battle, aged thirty-two, and Brigadier Monckton
" was unfortunately wounded upon the left of the
* • 43 rd and right of the 47 th, at much the same time ;
" whereby the command devolved on Brigadier
" Townshend, who, with Brigadier Murray, went to
*' the head of every regiment and returned thanks
" for their extraordinary good behaviour, congratu-
" lating the officers on our success, While the two
" armies were engaged, there was an incessant firing
" between the town and our L6vis batteries. By the
" time that our troops had taken a little refreshment,
" a quantity of intrenching tools were brought ashore,
" and the regiments were employed in redoubting our
" ground and landing some cannon and ammunition.
" Montcalm entered the gates of Quebec mortally
" wounded, and expired, aged forty-eight, at 4 a m.
" of the 14th."

Thus ended the battle of the 13th September by

The Fall of New France. jjo

which practically Quebec City and Fortifications
fell forever from the military power of the French
into that of the English, though it was not until the
18th current that the gates of the city were open to
receive them under articles of capitulation agreed to
by Commandant de Ramezay. The conditions were
favorable to the French, but what cared Townshend,
situated as he was ! Any would have been accept-
able to him, so long as he could gain possession of
the Citadel and thus cripple, if not end, the military
regime of the French in Canada.

Granting the honors of war to troops to be trans-
ported to France, some YOO in number (De Vaudreuil
had removed the others), and the protection in per-
son and property to the inhabitants, with the free
exercise of their religion, were easy terms upon
which to acquire the Capital of the French domi-
nions in North America. Neither Admiral Saunders
nor Brigadier-General Townshend felt encouraged
by the position of matters to seek or ask better terms.
At every moment they were expecting a renewal of
the battle at the hands of De Levis, who had the
reputation of being a daring oflBlcer and most eflOlcient
in military tactics and knowledge and who, they
8

IIzj The Fall of New France.

well knew, was at the head of a still much larger
army than they commanded and had the advantage
of position in being able to wedge them between the
walls of Quebec on the one side and his own over-
whelming force on the other.

It was, therefore, with a great sigh of relief and
irrepressible joy they accepted the terms proposed
and placed the keys of the gates of Quebec in the
hands of Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Murray, for
entry of the army on the morning of the 18th Sep-
tember. Knox states : " The keys of the ports were
" given up this evening (the I7th) to General Towns-
" hend, and safe-guards were sent into the town, pur-
" suant to the Treaty ; in the morning the Louisbourg
" Grenadiers marched in, preceded by a detachment
" of artillery,^ and one gun, with the British colours
" hoisted on its carriage ; the Union flag was dis-
" played on the citadel. Captain Hugh Palliser,

^ Commanded by Colonel Georire Williamson, who afterwards
became LieutenantrGreneraL Knox highly compliments this offi-
cer, a graduate of the academy at Woolwich, as being an expe-
rienced master of his profession, especially shown by his service of
the artillery during the siege. We have reason now to deplore
his marksmen's accuracy as having been the means of destruction
of so much that was of value and interest, historically and arch»o-
logically.

■ jsri

N^

SIR HUGH PALLISER, Bart.,

Admiral and Governor Greenwich Hospital,

Commandant H. M. S. Shrewsbury, 74 ouns.
At Quebec, 13th September, 1759.

I The Fall of New France. Il^

Irith a large body of seamen and inferior officers,

it the same time took possession of the lower
>wn, and hoisted colours on the summit of the
eclivity leading from the high to the low town,
h view of the bason and the north and south
iountries below Quebec." Thus to Colonel Wil-
|mson and Captain Palliser^ belong the honor of
Hsting the first English colors, in token of victory
id conquest, on the soil of the mainland of Canada
nee the days of Kertk, 1629-32, to remain there an
pblem of brotherly love between the Anglo-Saxon
kd G-allic races; so long as the flag-staff of the
lajestic citadel-point of La Nouvelle France will

E''e them in recognition of the new-born Chris-
ty, that of mutual respect and esteem, the
uest of Canada brought to both races
I The loss on both sides was heavy for so short an
jngagement (began at 10 o'clock a.m. and ended at
il), particularly so among the officers, proving the
fearlessness of those in command, even to a degree
jof rashness. Both Commanders fell, while the

^ The honors were evidently divided between the land and sea
forces by this selection; the portrait of Captain Palliser being
herein given.

Il6 The Fall of New France.

Brigadiers Senezergues, De Fontbnine and St. Ours
on the French side were killed, and Monckton, on
the English side, severely wounded. The French
admitted 640 killed and wounded, and 300 prison-
ers, * while the English admit a loss of sixty-one
killed, 598 wounded, and five missing.

What became of De Vaudreuil, the Q-ovemor-
General of the Colony, all this time ! From 5 in the
morning until noon, the enemy were within sight,
and a serious battle was being fought, which would
decide the fate of the country, within two miles of
his camp ! and yet not a move to the assistance of
the brave Q-eneral in action. Montcalm's early esti-
mation of his character turned out now to be accur-
ate. In one of his letters, he says " he is inactive and
" incapable'' ^ History must assert that his apathy
was largely occasioned by his personal antipathy to
Montcalm, in addition to his military failings and
fear that, by his assistance, victory might be his
rival's ! No contemporary or reliable author men-

*Knox states these figures should be 1500 killed, wounded and
prisoners, but I infer he includes the capitulated force of Quebec,
some 700, so that there is not much discrepancy between the two
statements.

* Murdock, ExsUrry of Nova Scotia, p. 364.

The Fall of New France. II7

tions any action taken by De Vaudreuil at this criti-
cal moment, thoagh he himself, in his despatches to
the Q-overnment, claims that he joined Montcalm
before the battle was over, but too late, as Montcalm
could not rally his men from retreat. This state-
ment is uncorroborated and bears its own refuta-
tion. The fact is, De Vaudreuil would sacrifice his
country to gratify his revenge ! His excuse that he
was detaining his forces to prevent the landing of
the British troops at the Lower Town, is frivolous
and unworthy serious consideration. Immediately
following the retreat, he desired to capitulate and
hand over the country at once ; but was prevented by
the loyalty of French officers, who refused to comply.^
Walpole, in his Memoirs^ at p. 38Y, says : " Had Vau-
" dreuil taken part and been captured, our men
" were determined to scalp him, he having been the
" chief and blackest author of the cruelties exercised
" on our countrymen. Some of his letters fell into
** the hands of the English, in which he explicitly
" and basely said that Peace was the best time for
" making war on the English^ Was there any neces-
sity for the surrender, or fall of Quebec, consequent

^ De Mofitoalm en Canada, p. 202.

Il8 The Fall of New France.

upon Montcalm's defeat ? I hold not. It was pre -
mature, and the result of military incapacity of Dr.
Vaudreuil and De Ramezay.

On the afternoon of the 13th, after the hurried
Council in which the GK)vernor-Q-eneral wished to
surrender at once, De Bamezay, the Commandant at
Quebec, simply instructed to retain the city as
long as he could, the Q-ovemor moved off with his
legion of 10,000 men (the balance of Montcalm's
army and his own) to safe quarters, beyond the
range of the English guns. ^ De L6vis had been
summoned to return to take command of the army.
Making all haste possible, he reached Yaudreuil's
camp at Jacques Cartier on the 17th, and exclaimed,
" Never was there such a rout, as that of Quebec ;
" the people are running away with fear, I met them
" as far as Three Rivers." He immediately upbraided
Vaudreuil for forsaking Quebec ^ with such an army
of fresh troops as he beheld before him — fally 18,000
men. He enjoined immediate return and reopening

^ Ainsi, M. Saunders eut la satisfaction de voir fuir devant lui
une arm^e plus formidable que la sienne. — Memoirs S. de C, p. 166.

(Translation.) Thus Saunders bad tbe satisfaction of seeing
flying before bim an army much larger than bis own.

* De MorUccUm en Canada^ p 222.

J

The Fall of New France. II9

of the battle. De Vaudreuil, fearful that his instruc-
tions to De Bamezay may have caused a capitula-
tion, sent avanJt courriers to stop it, — while every
haste was made by the army to reach the field ere it
was too late. They reached it only in time to see
— as in a Fata Morgana — the lilies of France
reversed, ^ and inscribed Perfidia Eversay while the
stern reality showed the proud banner of England
floating from the flag-staff at the citadel, the gates
wide open, and the 241 cannon they had so frequently
loaded, now turned forever, crammed to the muzzle,
against themselves.

From this scene of perfidy, let us turn to a bright
oasis of courage and duty exemplified by woman.

In the valley of the St. Charles, facing the field of
battle, stood the Q-eneral Hospital from the win-
dows of which the Nuns of St. Augustine order in
charge, paralyzed with fear, were unwilling witnesses
of the scene of strife. The knell of the cannon-ball,
the whizzing of shot, brought death to their sight ;
pursued, bayonetted or sabred, they saw their loved
ones fall in the vain attempt to defend that sacred
land of Canada, the refuge of the pilgrim's cross, the

' As per De Vaudreuirs orders in De Montcalm en Canada^ p. 228.

120 The Fall of New France.

harbour of the missionary's delight, where martyr-
dom at the savages excruciating torture was but the
passport to eternal bliss beyond. Terror-stricken,
they open the gates to receive the wounded and
dying; friend and foe alike, bleeding, maimed,
scalped or distorted, Montcalm the heroic general,
mortally wounded among them, are laid at their
feet for the merciful treatment of woman, rendered
more tender by that nursing of religion to which
they had sacrificed their terrestrial life. Regardless
of race or faith, nationality or uniform, they admin-
istered the sacred calling of their profession with
that impartiality indicative of true religion borne
of faith, hope and charity — the one touch of nature
which makes the whole world kin.

The actual number in the engagement is still an
open question. A little dissertation on this import-
ant point may not be uninteresting. On the part of
the English, sufficient authority and confirmation
exist to establish the number, as given by Knox at
4828, and which I have assumed. On the French
side the weight of historical evidence is in favor
of 1940 regulars, 6000 colony troops and Canadian
militiamen and 500 Indians.^ By including De

* For note referring to this, see next page.

The Fall of New France.

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122 The Fall of New France.

Bougainville's flying column of 2000 men, we
would have about the figure of 9580, claimed by
Knox to have been engaged, which, he says, he
learned from a French oflB.cer as the actual number
present, and which is confirmed by taking the whole
force at what it was represented to be, viz., 1Y,000
strong, divided as follows:^ With Montcalm in
battle, 7500 ; with L6vis, 1200 ; with De Ramezay,
2000 ; with Vaudreuil, 3300 ; with De Bougainville,
2000 ; at Samos and Jacques Cartier, 1000.

We have other corroborative evidence worthy of
considerable credence. I allude to the numerous
sermons and discourses delivered at the time upon
the public rejoicings which followed. While due
allowance may be made for the latitude of language
which such an overwhelming victory may occasion,
sufficient is left to impress the mind by the unan-
imity of the statement that " Montcalm's army was
" greatly superior in number to Wolfe's ;" that it

* Bigot states (p. 83 Ramezay^s Memoirs, Quebec, 1861,) "that he
" had to provide 20,000 rations daily for the Quebec army, or 30,000
" for the three divisions of the army." Knox, Vol. II, p. 166
states: '*That a Recollet Father told him that throughout the
country there were 27,000 Canadian militiamen under arms, apart
from the Begulars and Indians."

The Fall of New France. 123

was an admitted fact at the time. One of these dis-
courses, in particular, attracts our attention for its
truthfulness, and serving to prove the correctness of
the others, — as it was delivered in the capital itself,
in the presence of the very army engaged and people
interested, within a very few days of the occurrence
of the battle.

The sermon was that of the Rev. Eli Dawson,
Chaplain to the Forces, delivered at the Chapel of
the Ursulines, in Quebec, on the 27th of September,
1769,^ in which he uses the following language
(pp. 10-12):-

" The indulgence of Providence therefore, without
" doubt, is to be gratefully acknowledged for every
" success and advantage, even though the superiority
" has been never so great on the side of the triumphant
" party. For it is not in mortals to command success ;
" the aid of Providence can alone secure the battle

* A Discourse delivered at Quebec in the Chappel belonging to
the Convent of the Uraulins, September 27th, 1759 ; occasioned by
the Success of our Arms in the Reduction of that Capital : At the
request of Brigadier General Monckton, and by Order of Vice
Admiral Saunders, Commander in Chief. By the Reverend Eli
Dawson, Chaplain of His Majesty's Ship Sterling Castle, on Board
of which the Vice Admiral hoisted his Flag, during the Siege.
London : R Griffiths, 1760.

124 The Fall of New France,

" to the strong, and victory to the brave. We may
" observe, however, that as it gives a higher relish
** of joy, so it must be a higher incentive to grati-
" tude, when the party thai is inferior becomes victo-
" rious. This was evidently our case ! which makes
" the favor of Providence still greater. For so small
" was the number of our land forces ! such the superiority of
" the enemy, with all the advantages of their situa-
" tion, that they thought themselves secure ; while
" the highest that our hopes could aspire to, was to be
" serviceable to our country, by making a diversion
" in this part of the continent to favour our military

" operations in another," " But, remember,

" he is greatly fallen ! Tell how he fell, ye proud
" Towers ! — ^Ye Ramparts ! Were ye not Wit-
" nesses ? Speak with what a blaze of G-lory you
" saw the Heroe surrounded ! — Tell how ye shook to
" your Foundations at the presence of the Con-
" queror ! Tell how you saw your num^ous Hosts, like
" the Dust, scattered over the Plain! Tell how vainly
" they sought shelter amidst these ghastly ruins !
" Ye Mountains of Abraham, decorated with his Tro-
" phies, tell how vainly ye opposed him, when he
" mounted your lofty Heights with the strength

The Fall of JSfew France. 12^

" and swiftness of an Eagle ! Stand fixed forever
" upon your rocky base, and speak his Name and
" Glory to all future Generations ! Te Streams of
" Lawrence ! and propitious Grales ! speed the glad
" Tidings to his beloved Country ! and let Britannia
" soon receive the last, the richest pledge of her
" Heroe's filial Duty and Affection ! Te Heralds of
" Fame, ^ already upon the Wing, stretch your
" Flight, and swell your Trumpets with the Glory
" of a Military Exploit through distant Worlds. An
" Exploit ! which for the fineness of address in Stra-
" tagem ! the Daringness of the Attempt ! and the
" Spirit of its Execution! shall take rank with the
" choicest pieces of Ancient or Modern Story in the
** Temple of Fame, where it remains immortal !
" Whilst, we trust in God, He is gone to take Pos-
" session of that more substantial Immortality, into
" which all Patriots, all Lovers of Virtue and Man-
" kind, who hold their Lives in ready resignation to
" the call of God and their Country, will most
" assuredly enter. "^

^ Alluding to the Expresses sent with the news of the Surrender
of Quebec to Great Britain and the Continent of America.

' Captain Knox entry of this Sermon in his Historical Journal^
VoL II, p. 168, reads : *' In consequence of orders for this purpose,

126 The Fall of New France.

Among the numerous others, I will give extracts
from a few of the more important. Chandler says : — ^

" On the other hand, passing the deserted Villages
" and many wonderful occurrences of Providence,
" come see the scenes opening in the Siege of Que-
'* bee. Altho' Britons love Peace, they can use the
" sword with bravery, when it is necessary to guard
" their interests and repel their Foes. Sway*d by a
" love to their Sovereign and the glory of his arms,
^^ with a flush of sanguine spirits, they made an
" onset. * The Artillery roars — disgorging mortal
" Ball — hurling, fiery globes ; which kindle into a
" furnace of flame, and bursting into ragged instru-
** ments of ruin, scatter death all around them.'
" The British Banner moving from one Station to

"^ todav has been dedicated to Divine Service and a solemn Thanks-
" giving for the success of His Majesty's Arms, in the reduction of
*' this fortress ; the troops were excused all duties of labour and
*' fatigue, and about eleven o'clock, the several regiments marched
" to the Church of the Ursulines, preceded by our General Officers,
" where they heard an excellent Sermon suitable to the occasion ;
" several French merchants, said to be Hugonots, attended, though
** unacquainted with our language."

* Extract from Sermon. Samuel Chandler, A.M. (p. 22-23),
Pastor of a Church in Glocester, preached Thursday, November 29,
1759, Being the day of the Provincial Anniversary Thanksgiving.
Boston : New England. Printed by Green & Bussell at their Office
in Queen Street

The Fall of New France. 12/

" another, is set up at length, and part of the troops
** are arrayed on the Plains of Abraham. Alarm'd
" at this, the Gallic Bravoes quitted their inaccessible
" Intrenchments, and advanced with haughty
" strides, numerous and formidable^ with rage in a
" blaze ; like the Q-iant to crush David. Our bold Bat-
" talions, comparatively few and despicable^ are planted
" as a Battery of Rock, in a judicious disposition,
** becoming the British Hero who commanded.
** Courage sat in state on the martial brows. Prow-
" ess brightened in their aspect. In the critical
" moment, they arose intrepid, rushed into the
" thickest havoc of the battle, and fought like men
" who knew no medium between conquest and
" death. The fierce attack was broken ; the coward
" bands were put to flight — their courage fled in the
** combat — and the tripid multitude fled, like the Roe
" upon the Mountains, trembling as they fled; and
" Victory, auspicious to us, spread itself all along the
" Plain. Pursued with alertness and vigor, they
" fled to the City and soon surrender — ^the Capital
" of New France is surrendered, a Trophy to the
" conquering arms of Q-reat Britain."

128 The Fall of New France.

Extract from Mr. Cooper's sermon^ (pp. 40-44) : —
" I find myself at a loss for words upon this
** memorable occasion. I know not how to express
" the importance of that success with which it has
" pleased Q-od to bless His Majesty's Arms, and yet
" I feel it ; and so I doubt not does everyone in this
" Assembly. Joy sparkles in every eye ; Triumph
" sits upon every face. But when the Bosom swells
" with an unusual tide of G-ladness, it is harder to
" paint what we feel in suitable expressions, than
" upon more common occasions.

" God has heard our Prayers, and those of our Pro-
" genitors. We behold the day which they desired
" to see, but saw it not. We have received a Salva-
" tion from Heaven, greater perhaps than any since
" the foundation of the Country. The power of
" Canada is broken. Its Capital is reduced ; and the
" British Banners float triumphant upon the Walls

* Occasioned by the Redaction of Quebec. Preached before Hie
Excellency Thomas Pownall, Esq., Captain Greneral and Grovernor
in Chief, The Honourable His Majesty's Council and House of
Representatives of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New
England, October 16th, 1759, by request By Samuel Cooper, A.M.,
Pastor of a Church in Boston. Boston : New England ; Printed by
Green & Russell, and Edes & Gill, by order of His Excellency the
Grovernor, and both Houses of Assembly.

The Fall of New France. 12Q

"of Quebec! Courage is the most brilliant

" quality to common eyes, as it is truly the basis of
" a Soldier. But had this necessary quality been
" found alone at the head of our small army, it never
" could have undertaken and effected such various
" services, for which it was so often divided, with-
" out giving some fatal advantage to a numerous
" and watchfal Foe. Here then that conduct shone,
" which strikes with admiration the judicious and
" marks the great Captain. A sagacity and pru-
" dence sufficiently animated, but not disturbed or
" over-borne, by that martial ardor, so natural to the
" breasts of Heroes.

" As soon as General WoKe had disembarked his
" Army, he gained upon the Enemy, even without
" a Battle, and never for a moment quitted his supe-
" riority. At length, by a motion, prudent as it was
" bold, meritorious as it was successful, he drew the
" French, mmh superior in nmnbers^ from their inacces-
" sible intrenchments, and obtained that great and
" decisive victory, which was soon followed with
" the surrender of Quebec.

" When we consider the situation of his Service
" in the heart of Canada ; the comparative smallness
9

1^0 The Fall of New France.

" of his force, and the manner in which he employed
" it, must we not acknowledge, that he had made a
" successful and shining campaign, even before the
" Thirteenth of September ! But what an occasion
" of Grlory to himself, of service to his Prince, and
" felicity to his Country, did that Day afford ! That
" remarkable Day, not only exhibited the superiority
" of Briiish courage, but shewed a young British
" Commander, who had never before been at the
" head of an Army, vanquishing by superiority of
" skill an experienced and successful General of
" France."

Extract from Sermon of Andrew Eliot, M.A.^
(pp.34-3t):-

" And yet, Gk)d has caused us to see greater things
" than these. Amidst all the joy which arose in our
" breasts, at the success of the British Arms to the
" westward ; our hearts were in pain for the brave
" General Wolfe, who with his little Army was en-

* Pastor of the New North Church in Boston. Preached October
25th, 1759* Being a Day of Public Thanksgiving appointed by
Authority for the success of the British Arms this year, especially
in the Reduction of Quebec, the Capital of Canada. Boston:
Printed by Daniel and John Kneeland for J. Winter in Union
Street, opposite to the Bang's Arms. 1759.

The Fall of New France. 131

" camped before Quebec, and opposed by the main
" strength of Canada, commanded by M. Montcalm,
" a name too well known among ns. We had heard
" of the diflBlculties with which this army strug-
" gled ; of the repulse it had at one time met with ;
" of the strength of the City ; of the numbers that
" defended it ; of the impenetrable lines, behind
" which they had secured themselves. Our last
" advices were that the General had made such a
" change in the situation of our Army, as was like
" to bring on something decisive. The event has
" been agreeable to these expectations. It bro't on
" the battle which has decided the fate of Quebec ;
" which has decided 'tis probable, the fate of Canada ;
" that country, which we were ready to fear was
" never to be conquered ; at least, it gives us reason
" to hope for this happy consequence.

" The surrender of this important fortress is an event
" truly great. It is great, as the welfare of this country
" is nearly affected with it ; it breaks all the designs
" of the French ; and affords an agreeable prospect,
'* that our civil and religious privileges will be con-
" tinned to posterity. It is great, as we may hope,
*' it will put an end to the ravages of the Indians on

132 The Fall of New France.

" our frontiers. It is great, as it was attended with
" difficulties, which would have been insurmount-
" able to any, but a G-eneral of such heroic fortitude
'' and consummate skill, such fine officers, and such
" intrepid soldiers. It is great, as our army in the
*' battle which introduced it was opposed by near
" twice their number, with a G-eneral at their head of
" great experience in the art of war, and who had
" not yet failed in any attempt he had made. It
" is great, as these colonies have had this con-
" quest so long in view, and have met with so many
'* disappointments in their designs against it. It is
" great to us, as we were ready to give up all hopes
" of success ; and no doubt, had we failed in this last
" struggle, we must have given over the expedition ;
" the consequences of which, who can tell ! So low
** were our expectations sunk, that when the news,
" that Quebec was in the possession of the English
" first arrived, we could scarce think it a reality :

" ' It seemed at first a pleasing dream
Of what we wished to see.*

" Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our
" tongues with singing ; joy was painted on every

The Fall of New France. 133

" countenance, but no one knew how to express
"what he felt."

Extract from Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, D.D., Pas-
tor of the West Church in Boston.^ Two Discourses
delivered October 25th, 1^59 (p. 27) :—

" Behold him there, with his little body of British
" troops, himself the head to direct, and the soul to
" animate the whole, if such troops needed anima-
" tion ; the force of Canada moving towards him
'* with slow and solemn steps, under a try'd, expe-
" rienced and approved commander ! Unhappy
'* Montcalm ! Courageous at least, if not prudent
" at this time ! What is it that in an unpropitious
" hour, tempts thee thus to forego those advantages,
" which could not, perhaps, have been forced from
" thee ! What is it that induces thee to put the
" Capital of Canada, and, with it, the whole country,
" upon so desperate a risque, as the event of the

*Two Discourses delivered October 25th, 1759, Being the day
appointed by Authority to be observed as a Day of Public Thanks-
giving for the Success of His Majesty's Arms, more particularly in
the Reduction of Quebec, the Capital of Canada, with an Appendix
containing a brief account of two former expeditions against that
City and Country, which proved unsuccessful, by Jonathan May-
HHW, D.D., Pastor of the West Church in Boston. Boston, New
England : Richard Draper. 1759.

134 '^^^ ^^^^ ^f ^^^ France.

" ensuing battle ! Perhaps thou reliest on thy superior
" numbers ! But dost thou not know both British
" troops and French ones better, than to think
" the latter can stand before the former on even
" ground, though the disproportion of numbers be so

''great!''

It has been claimed by military authorities,^ and
apparently most correctly, that Montcalm's position
at Beauport was not judicious or advantageous.
The high ground on the right, or southern, bank of
the St. Charles would have been the preferable situ-
ation for the defence of Quebec. Had the French
army occupied this ground, the disembarkation at
Wolfe's Cove might not have succeeded. The
battle of Quebec is regarded as even a more fatal
error. A battle was Wolfe's object and most gene-
rally is that of every assailant. To avoid one ought
consequently to have been that of Montcalm. His
attack upon Wolfe's corps was gallant, but it was
rash and precipitate. Finding Wolfe landed, he
should have retreated within the walls of Quebec
and have compelled him to attack him there. To
have established batteries and to have broken

^ Pricis of the Wars in Canada, by General Smythe, p. 80.

The Fall of New France. 13^

ground, would have been an operation requiring
considerable time and labour. The season was slip-
ping away rapidly and the French had every thing
to gain from delay. There is no doubt the battle of
the 13th September was unnecessary and uncalled
for and on this fatal error — whatever the merits of
Montcalm may be as a man and they were socially
and morally many — ^his reputation as a G-eneral
must rest and the verdict of posterity must be a
strong condemnation of his ability as a military man
and G-eneral in command of the defences of Quebec.
His prowess, which was his forie^ served him well
on other occasions, but at Quebec, where it was of
no avail, he was outgeneralled and sadly inefficient
in military tactics.

Townshend, upon whom, from seniority (Monck-
ton having been rendered hors-de-combat by a wound),
the command had devolved, in his official despatch to
the G-overnment, endeavoured to aggrandize himself
at the expense of Wolfe and others, who took a much
more active part in the engagement than fell to his
lot ; but the ridicule and coolness which this brought
upon him, soon induced him to rectify his error and
do tardy justice to the fallen hero and those to

136 The Fall of New France.

whom credit was rightfally due. "Wolfe always
entertained suspicions of his sincerity, and generally
relegated him to inferior positions in engagements ;
thus in the battle of Quebec he was placed in com-
mand of the rear guard in charge of the landing
place, while Murray, his inferior in rank, was
placed in the van of the attack/

A few days after the capitulation was executed,
Monckton recovered suflB.ciently from his wounds to
resume command. He appointed Murray to take
charge of the garrison, sent Townshend to England,
and he himself removed to New York, to which he
was shortly afterwards appointed Governor.

Saunders and Townshend immediately returned
to England, conveying the sick and wounded, and
the embalmed corpse of the hero "Wolfe, whose sad
premonitions of death, as related of him, were so soon

* He was not a favorite of Wolfe's I In fact were it not for his
great family and personal influence, Wolfe would not have con-
sented to have had him on his force. But the King having given
away to him in his selection of his intimate friend Guy Carleton,
against whom the King had personal prejudices, Wolfe, after many
refusals to do so, consented to Townshend being given the second
Brigadiership. It was not until the last moment that this consent
was obtained. In every other respect Wolfe's army was his own
selection, an unusual privilege granted to him by Pitt

WOLFE'S MONUMENT.

The Fall of New France. 137

to be verified. The evening before, in a melancholy
mood, he deliberately left instructions vrith and gave
his valuables to his schoolmate, Captain John Jervis,
afterwards Admiral Earl St. Vincent, to be conveyed
to England. Mourning was universal and worn by
all classes for months. His body was received and
funeral conducted with as much military display as
could be shown. To the honor of England be it said,
the nation in and out of Parliament could not suffici-
ently shew its sincere grief at the loss it had sus-
tained. A magnificent and costly marble monument
was erected in the nation's mausoleum, Westmin-
ster Abbey, but a greater monument and a more
lasting one, was erected to his memory, namely,
the page of history inscribed to his merits as a man,
a hero of many battles, a patriot and general,
esteemed by friend and foe, which will be as ever-
lasting as the nation of Canada, which he helped so
materially to establish.

Brigadier-General Murray was left in command at
Quebec with ^000 men and two 20-gun ships. He
was appointed Civil and Military Governor of the
same.^

^ In Qaebec he obtained 241 pieces of cannon, viz. : Ten 36-
ponnders, forty-five 24 do., 180 18 do., thirteen 12 do., forty-three

138 The Fall of New France.

The French had too important interests at stake at
Quebec, to give much opposition elsewhere. The
detachment of Bourlamaque, some 3000 strong,
were instructed to harass and prevent the advance
of Amherst, but not to give battle or risk valuable
lives. Thus, as Amherst penetrated his route, he
met with little opposition ; obstacles unimportant
were placed in his way, and, as he overcame them,
he only found a burning or blown up fortress for his
reward. Ticonderoga, the invincible Carillon of
two previous campaigns, Crown Point and other
strongholds were thus treated, and by the time he
reached the St. Lawrence, he found it too late to
advance to the assistance of Wolfe, and decided upon
wintering at Crown Point, where he could begin
operations from, early the next season. He left
Colonel Haviland in charge with 8800 men.

The Niagara expedition was entrusted to Generals

8 do., sixty-seven 6 do., thirty-three 4 da, seven 3 da, five 2 do. ;
mortars, twenty-one; shells, 1100 ; with a considerable quantity of
powder, ball, small arms, intrenching tools, etc., etc. — Entick.

Capt John Montresor, an Engineer whose Journal is published
by the New York Historical Society, states that in the vicinity of
Quebec they obtained 330 cannon, 20 mortars, 501 barrels of powder,
with great quantities of ammunition. He found the fortifications of
Quebec in good order and very strong. Page 234 Vol. 1881.

The Fall of New France. 13O

Prideanx and Sir Wm. Johnson. Their duty was to
annihilate the French posts on the Lakes and in the
Ohio Valley. Fort Niagara, under the eflBcient guard-
ing of Captain Pouchot, after a three weeks resist-
ance, finally surrendered, handing over 600 men as
prisoners. General Prideaux being killed early in
the engagement, the command devolved on Johnson.

General Stanwix, in the Ohio Valley, met with no
opposition.

Thus the end of 1^59 saw the French dominions
reduced to the narrow strip of territory on the St.
Lawrence between Jacques Cartier and Kingston,
Montreal and Isle-aux-Noix being the only posts of
any importance to reduce.

After the falling of Quebec and its surrender, De
Vaudreuil and L6vis moved their headquarters to
Montreal, leaving 1000 men in winter quarters at
Jacques Cartier.

The first attempt in 1760, as soon as the climate
permitted, was naturally to recover Quebec. De
L6vis and De Vaudieuil, with 6000 men, well drilled
and trained for this last and special effort and a
large concourse of irregulars, — the country having

140 The Fall of New France.

been drummed up for the purpose/ — took their
position at Sillery on the 28th April. Murray, fall-
ing into the error of Montcalm, drew up his troops,
some 3000 men and twenty field-pieces, on the
Heights of Abraham,* and opened the attack by an
advance on L6vis at Sillery and Ste. Foy, thus get-
ting beyond the protection of his cannon ! Being
outnumbered and over-reliant he was defeated with
a loss of 1000 men and the cannon he had tempora-
rily left in his rear. French loss was 1800 men killed
and wounded. Retreating within the walls of Que-
bec, he was immediately invested by L6vis. The latter
erected redoubts and completed his batteries, open-
ing fire against the city on the 11th May ; but find-
ing two English vessels of war arriving on the 15th,
and not knowing how many more were in the wake,
he determined upon desisting and withdrawing his
army to Montreal for a final stand, evacuating his
position on the l*7th.

For an insufficient reason, L6vis precipitately
abandoned an advantageous position and siege, with

* Amounting in all to 13,000 men (see pp. 122-124, Quebec Lit.
and Hist Soa, Sees. 1869, Part VII). — Rameau, La, France aux
Colonies, p. 86. Smith's Canada, 1816, p. 336.

«/dm, lit. and Hist Soc,pp. 122-124, Smith's Histary of
Canada^ p. 336.

<^^ ^^J2^\r*^

The Fall of New France. 141

a well disciplined force of overwhelming numbers,
as compared with Murray's handful of soldiers,
many of whom were prostrated from the effects of
scurvy. Such advantages in the hands of an able
General could not have failed to replace Quebec in
the hands of the French. His disgraceful with-
drawal equalizes Abercromby's action at Carillon.
Well may it be called "De Levis' folly."

The English campaign for 1*760 was a descent of
the army of Amherst, 10,1*70 strong, including *760
Indians under Sir Wm. Johnson, by the Mohawk
River and the Oneida Lake, to Oswego; there to
embark on Lake Ontario and to proceed to Montreal
by descending the St. Lawrence. Colonel Haviland,
with his 8300 men, was to advance from Crown
Point by Lake Champlain upon Montreal. General
Murray was to ascend the St. Lawrence with what-
ever disposable force he might have, after leaving a
proper garrison for the security of Quebec. The col-
lapse of L6vis' investiture enabled him to move with
2450 men. Thus, by these arrangements, a force
consisting of nearly 16,000 men, it was expected,
would be assembled against Montreal.^

* Smythe's iV^cw 0/ ihA WatB in Canada^ p. 84. Smith's Qinoda,

1^2 The Fall of New France.

Military aTithorities have since strongly con-
demned this campaign as laid out by Amherst, as at
many points in this open and dangerous route, the
General's army was open to complete annihilation
had any troops opposed it. But no ! De Lfevis was
not prepared to expect so rash an experiment at the
hands of so experienced a Q-eneral as Amherst ; his
supposition being that the Cham plain would be the
sole route of approach for the English army on
Montreal. He therefore fortified Isle-aux-Noix and
Chambly as strong as he could make them, while
detaching a considerable number of his troops at
points on the St. Lawrence — especially Sorel — to
contest the advent of Murray should he attempt to
come up from Quebec.

Amherst thus met little or no obstruction except
that ordained by Nature, in which he was sadly
worsted, having lost over sixty-four boats and 100
lives in the Cedars Eapids alone.* He reached La-
Quebec, 1815, Vol. I, Appendix XIX, gives in detail the numbers
and corps forming the three armies. Strange to say, this figure, so
precisely known and authenticated, has been magnified by De
Vaudreuil in his despatches to France at 32,000 ; by De L^vis at
40,000; by Beaugrand, in Le Vieux Montrial, at 32,000; and by
De Bonnechose Montcalm at 20,000.

^The contemporary portrait of Amherst given herein, shows

t^ r^^ ^— hYfit^M^^k7f I ' JAtif^,,.,

The Fall of New France, 143

chine on the 6th September, marching quickly upon
Montreal ; to the west of which, in a plain,^ he took
up his ground the same evening, when overtures
were at once made by De Vaudreuil for a complete
surrender and termination of warfare, and which
absorbed the whole of the next day discussing.

Haviland's contingent reached Isle-aux-Noix on
the 16th August, erected batteries, and prepared to
attack it ; when, upon the 27th, the garrison was
withdrawn by De Bougainville, who retreated to
Montreal. On his further advance, Forts St. John
and Chambly were also evacuated. He then crossed
country and reached Longueuil, opposite Montreal,
on the south side of the St. Lawrence, and encamped
immediately opposite Murray's forces on the 6th
September.

Murray left Quebec on the 14th July in 51 vessels,
meeting with little opposition as he advanced up the

him in a contemplative attitude, while his troops are seen descend-
ing the Rapids— a danger which the artist was evidently alive to
and paints Amherst as feeling.

U locate his position about the foot of C6te des Neiges hiU,
between Guy street and Clarke avenue on the one side ; Sherbrooke
street and Dorchester street on the other. The house in which the
Capitulation was signed existed until quite recently, and was at
the headfof the hill, near the site of the C^te des Keiges old toll-gate.

lAA The Fall of New France.

river, notwithstanding the elaborate preparations
made by De L6vis to prevent his advent. The
enemy were evidently discouraged from making any
further stand, and the habitants already began to show
that it was a " forlorn hope " to oflTer any further
resistance ; profitmg by the " Placart," or Proclam-
ation, issued by Murray, they eagerly accepted the
right hand of fellowship and friendship and *7000 of
them en route subscribed to the oath of loyalty to King
Q-eorge 11. Awaiting Amherst at Isle Ste. Th6rese,
as soon as Haviland's contingent arrived, Murray
advanced on the *7th to within two miles below the
city, where both were informed of the arrival of
Amherst and of the negotiations pending.

The conjunction of these three armies within
forty-eight hours of each other, after the many mis-
haps they were subject to in such long and danger-
ous routes, and occurring within the time originally
determined upon, shows a marvellous conception of
military tactics and precision of movement reflecting
the highest credit and renown upon the Commander-
in-Chief Amherst,and Generals Murray and Haviland,
who so successfully carried it out.

Illustrative of Indian character and the difficulty

The Fall of New France. 145

of restraining them from excesses in time of wax,
may be mentioned that, upon the surrender of Fort
LSvis, on an island at the head of the GUUops Bapids,
the Indians desired to enter the fort to massacre the
garrison. Q-eneral Amherst, being apprised of their
intentions, immediately sent orders to Sir William
Johnson to persuade them, if possible, to desist;
declaring, at the same time, that if they offered to
enter the fort, he would compel them to retire. The
stores, he promised, should be delivered to them, as
his army was not in want of what few blankets
might be found there. This message had its desired
effect. The Indians, though with great reluctance
and apparent ill humour, were prevailed on to return
to their camp. However, their resentment increased
to such a degree that Sir William Johnson informed
the Q-eneral he was apprehensive they would quit
the army. The General replied "that he believed
" his army was fully sufficient for the service he
" was going upon without their assistance ; that,
" although he wished to preserve their friendship,
" he could not prevail on himself to purchase it at
" the expense of countenancing the horrid barbarities
" they wanted to perpetrate ;" and added, " that if
10

146

The Fall of New France.

" they quitted the army, and committed any acts of

*' cruelty, he would on his return assuredly chastise

" them." Upon this, the whole retired with the

exception of 1*70, who were afterwards distinguished

upon their arrival at Montreal by the gift of a medal

from the Gkneral, that they might " be known at the

English posts, and receive the civil treatment their

conduct deserved."^

Amherst, with great generosity, had consented to

all the fifty-five articles of capitulation requested by

De Vaudreuil with the exception of a few reserved

for the fioyal sanction and two which he declined,

viz., the perpetual neutrality of the inhabitants and

military honors for the army. The Chevalier de L6vis,

upon being refused this latter, desired to retire to

St. Helen's Island and fight it out to the last man ;

but being peremptorily forbidden by De Vaudreuil, he

broke his sword rather than surrender it unsheathed,

while the regiments burnt their colors to prevent

them being carried in triumph by their enemies.^

' Mant^, p. 306 : This medal is well known to numismatists. The
obverse has a view of Montreal ; the reverse plain, with the name
and tribe of the Indians engraved. As it was given before the
General's departure, and is very archaic, it must have been made
in Montreal at the time.
' IH MonUxUm en Canada, p. 232. Amherst was doubtful that

^ ^ r , /r/'./Z/rr^/^r (A//z/ o/jlii

f^'

.j^'^'Vae ^S^***""^

y^^i^y^^^^m^-

•*t

^/// rmM/m Jj^*^

The Fall of New France. 147

The following morning, the 8th September, with-
out a gun being fired, the complete surrender of the
Province was made, and a capitulation to that effect
was signed by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, the
Q-overnor-Greneial. Colonel Haldimand, afterwards
Q-overnor, being the first to enter the city and plant
the British Ensign of possession.

Four thousand and eleven regulars, with 16,422
militiamen, were comprised in the capitulation
of Montreal and submitted their arms to their
conquerors,^ while 90,000 souls^ exchanged the tur-
bulent and despotic Fleurs-de-lis of the Bourbons for
the broad banners of St. Q-eorge, where liberalism
and freedom in their broadest sense reigned supreme,
and to none more were these exemplified than to the

the colours did not exist, and desired to have the baggage searched.
Archives Report, 1884. The colours carried by the French regi-
ments at the Quebec battle are described by Capt. Knox to be :
A white silk flag, with three fleurs de lys, within a wreath or circlet,
in the center part, and two tassels at the spear end, all of gold.

^ Smith's Canada, Quebec, 1815, VoL I, p. 372. Ferland's Canada,
VoL II, p. 606.

» Knox, Vol. II, p. 461, 1780, claims there are over 100,000 souls.
Abb6 Raynal, Higtoire Philosophiqm Oinhx, 1780, 4 ta, p. 125, gives
the population of Canada in 1758 at 91,000 exclusive of the French
army and 16,000 domiliciated Indians in the midst of the French
habitations.

148 The Fall of New France.

conquered peasantry/ who had been held in a state
of ignorance, vassalage and religious tutelage equal
to that of the dark and middle ages, from which
an emancipation such as the present could not but
be hailed with delight.

Never were more generous terms conceded by any
conqueror than those granted by the English com-
manders, Townshend and Amherst.* Truly Wolfe
said in his manifesto to the Canadians : " We come
" not to disturb you, either in property or religion,
" so long as you remain neutral — we come to war on
" our enemies, the army and navy of France ! " How-
soever much the Canadians forfeited, by their actions,
this intended clemency, as a legacy of the beloved
Wolfe, his army and brother officers generously
respected his wish, and carried it out wherever
opportunity offered. To Wolfe and Amherst, Bos-
cawen and Saunders, the French Canadians owe the
liberty they enjoy to-day in religious privileges and
rights, language, laws, and hereditary national obser-
vances conceded to them, so contrary to the prevail-

> See Ferland's Canada, p. 606-607.

' " 1^68 Anglais accord^rent sans difficulty lea articles que Ton
" avait demand^ tant pour la religion que pour Pavantage du
" Citoyen. La Joye qu*ils eurent de se voir en possession les rendit

The Fall of New France. j^q

ing code of their conquerors, aflTording no parallel
example of liberality to the vanquished in ancient
or modem history.

By the articles of capitulation, the territory ceded
by the Marquis de Vaudreuil as Gt)vernor, forming
what he claimed the sovereignty of France over
Canada, comprehended the Lakes Huron, Superior
and Michigan and a direct line therefrom to the Eed
Lake, taking in by a serpentine course the Eiver
Ouabachi, as far as its junction with the Ohio, and
from thence extends along the latter river as far,
inclusively, as its influx into the Mississippi. The
eastern boundary being the territory watered by the
St. Lawrence and Atlantic Ocean.' Louisiana had
also been ceded about this period by secret compact
to Spain.

" les plus mod^r^ de tous les vainqneurs, nous ne pourrions sans
'' injustice nous plaindre de la fagon dont ils nous ont traits,"
etc.— JZetotion d!m\e, Religimse de VHdjniai Qtntrdl de Quibec en 1759,
p. 11.

(Translation.) The English readily accorded the articles
demanded, religious toleration and civil advantages for the inhab-
itants. Happy in having acquired possession of a country, in
which they had on several occasions failed, they were the most
moderate of conquerors. We could not without injustice complain
of the manner in which they treated us. — EeloHon of a Hotpital
Nun of Quebec, 1759, p. 11.

^ Hansard Parliamentary History of England, Vol. XV., 1753-66,
p. 1061.

1^50 The Fall of New France.

By the Treaty of Paris, signed on the 10th Feb-
ruary 1768, these boundaries were ratified and indeed
extended, the territory being divided into the Pro-
vinces of Canada, East and West Florida.

Amherst, as Commander-in-Chief, received the
submission of Murray as Grovernor of Quebec, but
immediately re-affirmed him in it, and farther
appointed Brigadier-Gteneral Thomas G-age as Gov-
ernor of the District of Montreal, and Colonel Ralph
Burton as G-ovemor of the District of Three Eivers ;
these districts to have the same limits as under the
French rigime for all matters of civil administration.
It is significant that Q-eneral G-age, in his proclama-
tion, styles himself Q-overnor-G-eneral ; but his com-
mission from Amherst does not seem to warrant the
assumption. These three Q-overnors seem to have
given universal satisfaction in the difficult and
arduous positions they assumed, and we have on
record a very interesting and early document con-
firming Q-age's popularity with the new subjects.^

' On the 25th October, 1760, Geoi^ge II suddenly died. As soon
as the news reached Montreal, the following address was presented
to Governor Gage and largely signed by his new subjects, who also
went into mourning on the occasion. It shows how early (within
sixty days) the benign influence of British rule was felt in render-
ing the inhabitants loyal, well satisfied and loving subjects of a

The Fall of New France. I^I

Nations as well as indiyiduals are bom to woe
and misery, with occasional sunbeams of happiness
and joy. France has had her fall share of both, like-
wise her cherished colony, New France. While woe
and anguish may be felt at the trials and troubles
of the Mother Country, by which the Colonial loving
subjects of France were subjected to a foreign yoke
and nationality ; joy and contentment should rest on
their brow at the improved position this change
eflfected in their welfare. Father Charlevoix, the

dynasty they had hitherto been taught to hate, despise and wage
unceasing warfare upon, accompanied by all the cruelties and
barbarisms their savage allies could teach them : —

<* To General Gagb, Gk>YHRNOR of Montreal.

'' Cruel destiny, then, has cut short the glorious days of so great
'' and magnanimous a Monarch. We are come to pour out our
" grief into the paternal bosom of your Excellency ; the sole tribute
** of gratitude of a people who will never cease to exult in the mild-
*^ ness and moderation of their new masters. The General who
^ conquered us has treated us more like victors than vanquished ;
" and has left us a precious Plbdgb (the meaning of Gagb in
" French) by name and deed of his goodness to us. What acknow-
" lodgments are we not bound to make for so many favours I They
*' sh^ be forever engraved on our hearts in indelible characters.
" We entreat your Excellency to continue to us the honour of your
" protection. We will endeavour to deserve it by our zeal, and the
" earnest prayers we shall oflfer up to the Almighty Being for your
" health and preservation,"— ^nnt4a/ Register, 1761, p. 91 ; Bochdaga
DipictOf p, 66.

152 The Fall of New France.

eminent historian, in his History of New France.
Vol. III., p. 80, says : " There exists in New England
" (in 1721) an opulence which it would appear we do
"not know how to emulate ; while in New France,
" there is a poverty attempted to be hidden by an air
" of ease." When the portals of New France were
opened by the invasion of the Britons — as were those
of their own country (England), in A.D. 1066, by the
ancestors of the very race they here came to relieve — a
flood of light and civilization, enhanced by the power
of the printing press, was thrown in among the inhabi-
tants to which they had been utter strangers ; the
reflex of which is seen to-day in the happiness,
contentment, enlightenment, intellectuality, power
and opulence of over two millions of the very people
Father Charlevoix regretted, in 1721, were so far
behind their English neighbors, an amelioration
which could not have taken place had they remained
under the same rules and restrictions France imposed
upon them. They have only to contrast their happy
position with that of their kindred and nationality
in Louisiana, whose very language, customs, religion,
laws; aye! nationality, have been crushed out and
suppressed, to acknowledge the debt of gratitude

The Fall of New France. 1^3

they owe England, and the love and respect they
fshould entertain everlastingly for the people who
permitted them such privileges and benefits, and
whose descendants have so faithfully observed and
carried them out to this day. But few nations
in the world would be sufficiently magnanimous
or liberal minded to tolerate a "Nation within a
Nation," and as nothing in the articles of capitulation
or the cession at the Treaty of Peace alters the terms
conceded to them by their valorous conquerors, it
was never contemplated the concessions they made
would be permitted to become an abuse to the detri-
ment of the Anglo-Saxon race.

Q-eneral Amherst returned to New York almost
immediately ; received the thanks of the British Par-
liament, was created a Knight of the Bath, granted a
pension of <£15,000 a year to himself and descend-
ants in perpetuity ; while the two nations, England
and America, outvied each other in demonstrations
of joy at the termination of French rule on the
Continent of America, by the Fall of New France.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. Majob-Ginkral Wolfb's Lbttkb. FroiUin>ieee.

On the 17th Augnat, 1758, Knox (Vol. 11, p. 28) records the following General
Order :—" Mr. Cameron, a volanteer in the Light Infantry of General
'* Lasoelles' Regiment, having distinguished himself in a remarkable manner
'* in the defence of a hoose, with only a sergeant, corporal and sixteen men
" of Lascelles Light Infantry, against a body of Savages and Canadians
" greatly superior in number, the General has ordered that the first vacant
" commission be given to Mr. Cameron in acknowledgment of his good con-
'* duct and very gallant behaviour. A flanking party of the 28th Regi-
" ment, commanded by a sergeant, distinguished themselves upon the same
** occasion, and hastened to the assistance of his friends with very great
" spirit"

This important letter confirms the foregoing engagement, and was written
from the camp at Montmorenci (L'Ange Guardien), either to Lieut. -Col.
Guy Carleton, under whom the Light Infantry were commanded, or to
Lieut. -Col. Hale, in command of the 47th Lasoelles Regiment. It is a
valuable specimen of Wolfe's ordinary style of writing and signature, and
is reproduced in foe nmiU size and color of paper, as well as script.
His autograph letters are ezce edingly rare and command very high prices
when oifered at anctimn in England In 1856 a sale is recorded at £6.17.6 of
an uninteresting family letter (Wolfe's Life, by Wright, p. 500).

158 Description of Illustrations.

2. Tmi Hoir. Vioi-Adxiral BoeoAwnr. p. 89.

Sod YiMOimt Fklmonih. Bom 19th Aug., ITIL Married, 1742, Franoes,
daughter of W. BTelyn GlaiiTiUe, Esq., of St. Clair, Kent. Age ao,
CSaptain of the '*Shorehaiii.'' Distingoished himself at the taking
of Porto Bello and the Seige of Garthagena. Age 83, promoted to the
" Dreadnought "—60 guns. Captured the " Medea,*' the first French ship of
war captured after the declaration of war, in 1744, Captain Hooquart in com-
mand. Distinguished himself under Anson in 1747, for which he was made
(age 86) Rear Admiral of the Blue. Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty at
age 38. In 1765 he agun captured the first French Tcssels at the beginning of
the Seven Tears War, the " Alcyde " and the " Lys " (age 44), when Hoo-
quart became his prisoner the third time . Was one of the council at flalif az
which decided upon the expulsion of the Acadians* In 1758 (age 47) he was
in command of the expedition against Cape Breton and Louisbourg,
which he successfully reduced. In 1759 he captured and defeated Admiral
Clue in the Mediterranean. Four times thanked by the House of Com-
mons, made a Privy (^unoillor, granted a pension of £8,000 a year, made
General of the Marines in 1760, with £8,000 a year attached. This brave,
intelligent and efficient officer, known affectionately by his tailors as Wry
Necked Dick, or Old Dreadnought," died the 10th January, 1761, aged 49
years, leaving three sons and two daughters, at Hatchlands Park, a seat
finished, he said, " at the expense of the French, the enemies of his country."
Buried in parish church of St. Michaeb Penkivel, in Cornwall
His two eldest boys dying young, his third son became Viscount Falmouth.
From a wound in the shoulder his head became bent, like that of Alexander
the Great, and it was of him Pitt said ** that when he proposed expeditions
" to other commanders he heard nothing but difficulties, but when he
" applied to him these were either set aside or expedients suggested to
" remove them. It is easier to bend the head like Alexander or Boscawen
*'than to imitate their courage or intrepidity."

(Portrait engraved by Kavenet from original painting.)

8. LiBXTT.-CoL. John Wimblow. P« 44*

Native of New England, son of Isaac Winslow, of Marshfleld, Mass.,
great-grandson of Edward Winslow, one of the first Plymouth settlers-

Description of Illustrations. 1 59

Captain of the ProTinoialB in the important expedition to Caba in 1740.
Afterwards an officer in the English Army and a Major-General of the
Militia. Commander of Provinoial troops in the expeditions to the Kenne-
bec and Crown Point, and was selected by GoTcmor Shirley to command the
troops raised in Massachnsetts for service in Nova Scotia in 1765. Col- Wins-
low served under General (then Colonel) Monckton at the capture of the
Forts Beaus^jour and Baie-Verte, or Gaspereaux» and was in command of
the most important and populous station at Grand Pr^ for the expulsion of
the Acadians (age 52), Monckton being the Commander in Chief of the forces
engaged in the deportation. Was a councillor of Massachusetts, and so
great was his popularity, says Minot, that he raised for the expedition under
Monckton 2,000 men in the short space of two months. He served in several
other engagements of the war, and died in 1774, aged 71. He left two sons,
Pelham and Isaac, both attached to the Royal cause in the American
Revolt. He was remarkable for his urbanity of manner, kind heartiness and
genial anftlities; characteristics inconsonant with the accusations of
inhumanity and cruelty some writers of the present day endeavor to load him
with.
(From the original portrait in Massachusetts Historical Society.)

4. Expulsion Mxdal. p. 49.

6. Fao-similb from M^daillks Louis li Giuhd. p. 60.

The medal is from an original issued to commemorate the expulsion of the
English from St Kitts in 1666. The page is from the large volume entitled
" M^ailles sur les principaux evenements du Regno de Louis le Grand ayec
'* des explications historiques par 1' Academic Royale des Medailles et des
" Inscriptions. A Paris de I'Imprimerie Royal, 1702."

The translation of the text is : Th^ Englvih Expelled from the laland of St.
Christopher, The Island of St* Christopher, abundant in sugar, tobacco and
other merchandise, is one of the Antilles group, situated in the Ocean of
South America. The French and English, both together, took possession in
1626, and to avoid conflict they divided the island equally between them.
Bach one enjoyed peaceably their half, when the war of England and France
in Europe spread to America and caused the colonies to arise. The Eng^sh
Governor, who was the first to learn of the rupture between the two Crowns,
wished to avail himself of it, and prepared to surprise the French. But

i6o Description of Illustrations.

thoM, warned of his designs by his preparations and movements, dared, though
inferior in number, to prevent him, and immediately attacked several of
the English posts and expelled the people. They were not disoouraged even
by the death of their oommander, who was killed in the second attack. They
pursued their enterprise just as happily as they began, forcing their enemies
to surrender their forts, their cannon and their arms by capitulation, until
they became alone possessors of an island so important to the commerce of
the West Indies. This is the subject of the above medal. We see an Ameri-
can squaw, having at her feet a shield with the arms of England, and holding
up a shield with the arms of France. Legend, Colonvx Fra/Morwi StabUUa,
The French Colony Made Finn. In exergue Anolit ex Intula Saneti Chris-
tophore extwrbatit, 1666. The English Expelled from the Island of Saint
Christopher, 1666.
(This French version of the expulsion differs materially from the English.)

6. La Mabquisb db Pompadoub. p. 66.

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, daughter of a butcher of the Invalides, or, ac-
cording to others a farmer of Fert^ sous Jouare, who was condemned of
malversations and ran away. Bom in 1722, she received a liberal education
from her mother; she was married to Mr. Lenormand L'Etioles, nephew of
the Farmer General Normand Toumeham. While hunting in the forest of
Senart, on the borders of which Toumeham held an estate, the King had an
opportunity purposely afforded him of seeing Madame d'Btioles, with whose
charms he was immediately enamored. Removing her to his Palace, she
was created Marchioness of Pompadour in 1745, and retained a complete as-
cendancy over the heart of the King, being placed at the head of his Court,
(to the sacrifice of the Queen, with one short interval) until her death, in
1764. She amassed enormous wealth, but spent it also lavishly in entertain-
ments for the King's amusements. Politically her power was of the greatest,
and for many years all important appointments, especially during the Seven
Years War, were obtained only through her hands. She was clever, bright in
conversation, handsome, and one of the greatest bibliophilists France has
had, her collection of books being carefully bound and of the best editions,
command great prices when offered for sale . Wolfe in his letter to his father
from Paris, of 10th January, 1763, states : *' I was introduced yesterday to the
" King and the Royal familyt and lastly to Madame Pompadour and M. de

Description of Illustrations. i6i

" St. OontMt, the minister. They were all very gnuHoas m faras ooortesiefl,
" bows and smiles go, for the Bourbons seldom speak to anybody* Madame
" la Marquise entertained us at her toilette. We found her curling her
" hair. She is extremely handsome* and, by her oonversation with the Am-
" bassador and others that were present, I judge she must hare a good deal
" of wit and understanding." (It was the custom of Pompadour to reoeiye
visitors in her dressing-room, in which there was no seat except her own.
It was only when the King entered that she ordered a chair for His Bfa-
Jeety.) On the 26th October, 1752, Wolfe dined with her, and remarks, in a
letter to his mother, that *' Madame Pompadour is a veiy agreeable woman. I
" had the good fortune to be placed near her for a considerable time." In
January, 1753, la Bfarquise was raised to the tahoureU with the rank and pre-
rogatives of Duehenet became qualified to be seated in the Queen's presence,
to be called ** Oousin " and receive the RoycU k%t$'
(The portrait is from that of " La Soci^t^ des Bibliophiles de France.'*)

7. LnuT.-GBimuL Mabquis or Mortoalm. p. 67.

Louis Joseph de Saint V^ran, bom in 1712 at dandiac Languedoc, of a
family of Ronergue, one of whose ancestors married into the Qoson family,
of whom tradition says vanquished the Dragon which desolated the Island of
Rhodes. Montcalm early entered the army and served 17 years as ensign,
lieutenant and captain in the regiment of Hainault, and was made Colonel of
Auxerrois Regiment in 1748. He received three wounds at the battle under
Plaisance, the 8rd June, 1746, and two others at Assiette. Made Brigadier of
the King's Armies in 1747, and Mestre du Camp (Oavalry Captain) of the new
Regiment of Cavalry called after him, in 1749. In 1766 he was created field
Biarshal and Commander in (Thief of the French troops in America. For
the victory at Carillon, 8th July, '756, he was created Lient.-General. His
titles were : Marquis de Montcalm, Seigneur de Gozon et de Gabriao, Com-
mander of the Order of St. Louis. His arms are quartered with those of Goion
and Gabriao. He was short in stature, but with a handsome face and figure
and very animated piercing eyes. An Indian chief on first seeing him could
not believe that so small a man could be the hero of so many victories, but
observed that "he saw the vivacity of the eagle in his eye and the greatness of
the oak." Like Wolfe, he was an able general, a lealous patriot, a staunch
friend, and a father to alL He was beloved and respected by all his soldiers

11

1 62 Description of Illustrations.

and offloen» and most upright in all hifl dealinga. Mortally wounded while
on horseback endeayoring to prevent the flight of his army at the Plains of
Abraham, he was removed to the General Hospital and died the next morn-
ing, 14th September, 1759, at 4 o'clock, aged 47 years, and was buried in the
Ursuline Convent in Quebec. He left a wife, five children (two boys and
three girls) and his mother to deplore his loss, to whom the King continued
a pension of 4,000 livres, and to each of his children 000. The eldest son was
given the regiment of his father, and the other son a company in the same
regiment.

(The portrait given is from a private photograph taken directly from the
original painting in the possession of the present Biarquis of Montcalm, who
presented it personally to L- A. Hubert, Esq., the eminent Canadian sculptor
of this city, and to whom he inscribed it; *' Oflfert ik. Monsieur Hubert en
" temoignage d'amiti^ et de sympathie.— Mis. de Montcalm." Reproduced
by kind permission of Mr. Hubert, and it is the first time that this faithful
and excellent likeness has been presented to the public in foiO-nmUe of the
original painting.)

8. COLONKL BOUOAINYILLS^ A.D.C. p. 96.

Louis Antoine de Bougainville was bom 11th November, 1729, at Paris.
Studied and was admitted to the law, but left it to enter the army. He en-
tered the Black Musqueteer Regiment- Studying languages and mathe-
matics, he published in 1752 a work on mathematics. He was made Brevet-
Major in the battalion of Picardie, Aide-de-Camp to the famous Chevert at
Sarre Louis in 1754, and was sent to London as secretary to the Embassy in
1755, where he joined the Royal Society of that city. The same year he
was made Aide-de-Camp to the Marquis of Montcalm and Captain of
Dragoons, and left for Canada on the 27th September, 1756. Promoted to
Colonel in 1759 and created Knight of St Louis, his recognised talents and
ability brought him tu the fore of de Bourlemaque, the second in command
of the French Army in America* After the surrender of the colouy he re-
turned to France and served at the Battle of the Rhine in 1761 with dis*
tinction. After the peace he entered the marine service, and founded the
Faulkland Islands, subsequently making a tour of the world, he discovered
and placed under French sovereignty several important islands in the
Paoi^c* He returned to France on the 14th March, 1769, and published an

Description of Illustrations. 163

aooonnt of his yojracee. Took i»ait in the American Bevolation, where ho
oommanded with distinotion soTeral Tesselfl of the line. He was created an
admiral and a field marshal. After forty years of sernoe, Boogidnville re-
tired and deroted himself to soienoe. In 1796 he was made a member of the
French Institute, €k>ant of the Empire, a Senator of France and Grand
officer of the Legion of Honour. He died, aged 82, on the Slst August, 1811.
(The portrait is from an engraving from a painting of about the period he
was in Canada.)

9. QuiBBO m 1769. P. 97.

View of the City taken from the Island of Orleans, and the man-of-war
Vanguard, by Captain Henrey Smith, Aide-de-camp to Gen. Wolfe, from
the original engraving of the 5th Nov., 1760.

10. Majob GnfSBAL James WoLne. p* 99.

Originally a Welsh family, the Woulf es settled in Ireland in the 16th cen-
tury, and became in time more " Irish than the Irish." On the capitula-
tion of Limerick in October, 1651, to Ireton, the Parliamentarian chief,
twenty of the most distinguished of its defenders were excepted from
pardon and reserved for execution. Among these were two brothers, George
and Francis Woulf e— the former a military officer, the latter a friar' The
friar was hanged, but the captain made his escape. He fled to England
(Torkshire) where he settled and adooted the reformed faith and
dropped the " n " from the name. In 1685 a son was bom and named
Edward, the father of our hero ; he married Henrietta, daughter of
Edward Thompson, Esq.. of Marsden, in Yorkshire, who was descended on
her mother's side from the ancient family of Tindal at Brotherton, in York-
shire. The father adopted the army as his profession, and at the age of 82
reached the grade of Lieutenant -Colonel, without family influence or
political interest ; solely the result of merit. On the 2nd January, 1727 (n.s.),
or the22nd December. 1726 (o.s.), our hero, James, was bom at the vicarage
in Westerham, Kent, the father being 42 years of age and the mother 2i.
Soon afterwards they quitted the vicarage, which had been leased temporarily,
and removed to the building named in the early part of the present
century " Quebec House," situated in a hollow picturesquely at the foot
of a hill down which winds the eastern outlet of Westerham, leading to

164 Description of Illtistrations.

Bnstead and Seyenoaks. Here under the watohfol eye and oarefnl
training of their mother, paased the childhood of James and his yoonver
brother Edward, bom in the following year. They were both delicate, sensi-
tire children, whose precarious health caused their mother many an anx-
ious hour. About 1738, the family removed to Greenwich, which, in addition
to his fathers's exploits as a soldier under Marlborough, only increased his
desire to enter army life at the earliest opportunity. To the neglect of his
schooling, he joined the forces at the tender age of IS years and 6 months, as
Tolunteer in his father's regiment Already a martsr to illness, Just as the
fleet was sailing with his regiment he had to be put ashore, seriously ill, and
returned to his mother- On the 8rd November, 1741 (age U), he was ap-
pointed Second Lieutenant in his father's regiment of marines, the
12th Regiment (Dnroure's), and in April, 1742, embarked with his
regiment for Flanders. His first fire was received at the celebrated battle of
Dettingen, where King Qeorge the Second and the Duke of Cuoiber-
land oommanded personally an army of 40,000 men, defeating the Duke
de Koailles with 60,000 French soldiers. In 1748 (aged 16), he was made
lieutenant and an adjutant; 1744, (}aptain in the Fourth (Barrel's) or King's
Regiment of Foot. In October, his brother Edward, who had Joined the army
to be in company with James, whom he idolised, died after a few days' illness
from consumption.

1745, he was made Major of B.igade, and took part in the battle of
Fontenoy, 11th May, 1745.

1740. Was present with his regiment at the battle of Falkirk in Scotland,
on the 17th January* and three months after was aide-de-camp to General
Hawley at the battle of (Tnlloden. Wolfe was here requested by his com-
mander-in-chief, the Duke of (Cumberland, to shoot "that Highland
" scoundrel who dares to look upon us with so insolent a stare," alluding to
the Oolonel of the Fraser Regiment, to which Wolfe indignantly replied
" that his commission was at His Royal Highness's disposal, but that he never
*' would consent to become an executioner." Was it this incident which
caused the Fraser Regiment to cling so affectionately to Wolfe in after years
and were the first to volunteer to scale the disiy heights of (^ebec both at
Montmorenci and Wolfe's Cove I

1747. On the 2nd July, Barrel's regiment having returned to the 0>nti-
0911^, and with it Wolf? was present at the battle of Val or Laffeldt, at

Description of Illustrations. 165

which the forces were oominanded by King Looifl XV. personally and the
Marshall Saxe on the French side ; the Duke of Cumberland and Sir John
Ligonier (who was captured) on the Bnglish side. Wolfe here distinguished
himself, the Offwial Gazette stating that he was wounded, and was publicly
thanked by the commander-in-chief for his distinguished serTices.

1748, after the Peace, he returned to Scotland with his regiment.

1749. Was made a Major of the 20th Begiment on the 6th January, and re-
turned home from serrice in seyen active campaigns at age 22. Re-
called to join his regiment, which was stationed at Stirling, he assumed
command, the Lieutenant-Colonel, the Hon. Edward Comwallis having been
appointed Captain-General and Governor of the new settlement of Halifax in
Nova Scotia. On the 20th March, 1760, he was officially appointed Lieut. -
Colonel of the regiment. He served in Scotland and England until 1758. On
furlough, he visited Paris to learn the French language, in which he
became quite proficient.

1756. he published his " Instructions for the guidance of the 20th Foot
" should the French effect a landing," the best drilled regiment in the British
army, so pronounced by the commander-in-chief. It is an admirable paper,
clear, pithy and comprehensive Published in the (hntleman'e Magaaine tot
1760, pp. 529-580.

1757. Distinguished himself at Rochfort, which brought him prominently to
the notice of Pitt and which was the direct cause of his selection for American
service.

1758. Wolfe, while at Louisbourg siege, received instruction through the
Oazettet that he had been promoted to the Colonelcy of the second battalion
of the 20th, now named the 67th Regiment (South Hampshire Foot) on the
2lBt April. Prior to this, on the 23rd January, 1758, he was commissioned as
Brigadier-General for service in America only.

1759- His Father, who had become Colonel of the 8th Regiment and Ideut.-
General, died on the 26th March, 1759, aged 74, and the Son fell at Quebec,
13th Sept., aged 32 years, 8 months. His Mother died, aged 00, on the 26th
Sept.. 1764.

Of a very feeble constitution, in fact consumptive, Wolfe never enjoyed
health such as a nian in his position required. Had nature ordained other-

1 66 Description of Illustrations.

wiM, hiB dhanoter was saoh that only Alexander the Great would have been
his oounterpart in history. In temperament he was sanguine, in disposition
docile and magnanimous, in figure manly, bronsed and ragged by innomer-
able campaigns, prematurely old, tall and slim Claoky, he states). Wright, in
his Life of Wolfe, snmmarises his character as follows : " He was impolsiTe,
but not rash ; persistent but not obstinate ; self -confident yet modest ;
aspiring bat not Tain-glorioos ; generoas, hospitable and charitable, bat not
extravagant ; stem yet gentle ; ingenaoas bat not egotistic ; free spoken yet
coorteoos. If ever high honoar^ strict integrity and all the qaalities which
constitate a dutifal and aflfectionate son (his letters to his parents, written
alternately almost weekly throaghoat his life, are m^els of affection), a trae
and constant lover, a sincere friend, a lo3^ sahject, and a pare patriot, were
combined with fearless valoar, antiring industry and great mental capacity,
they were combined in Jauxs Wolfk."

The portrait presented of Wolfe is the very rare messotint by C. Spooner,
after the sketch by Gapt Hervey Smith, his aide-de-camp, and to whom
we are also indebted for a series of views (two of which I reproduce), done by
him daring the campaign of 1769. Both portrait and views were engraved in
1760, the former from a direct sketch made of Wolfe while at Quebec, and
therefore the latest portrait of him and the most interesting to us. Acknowl-
edging his views to be accurate and carefully drawn, we must accept this
portrait of Wolfe as an equally truthful and correct likeness, however much
it may differ from the innumerable variety of face and form in engravings
we are presented of him. Wolfe's biographers and family connections
acknowledge but two authentic oil paintings and Smith's sketch ; the one by
Highmore in the National Portrait Gallery, done at age 22, the other by an
unknown artist, taken at age 13, in the possession of Admiral Warde ; Smith's
sketch being in the United Service Museum. There is another less known
portrait of him, from a sketch by Engineer John Montresor, taken at Quebec
on the 1st Sept., 1759, and which has been messotinted and published July
80, 1783, by B. Killingbeck, London. It is a profile, and said to be an excellent
likeness. It is excessively rare, and the original sketch has disappeared.
The well-known full length meuo of Wolfe, at the landing of his troops at
Quebec, by Houston, done in 1760, while presenting the characteristics in face
and form, is not an aathentic production and is too fanciful or sentimental
to be accepted as a portrait, while the dress, accoutrements and attitude
condemn it.

Description of Illustrations. 167

His appearance, as described by Wright, or in his letters printed by Wri^t,
corresponds closely with the portrait I hare selected. ** Although the most
'* partial admirer could not have considered him by any means a handsome
" youth, yet his countenance was so expressiTe of an ingenuous, hopeful spirit
** as to make it remarkably attractive. The most striking lineament, how-
*' ever ,was the singular form of his profile, which might be nearly represented
*' by two lines of an obtuse angle, meeting at the tip of the nose. (Wolfe's
" profile bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the younger Pitt, as may be
"perceived by comparing his portrait by Highmore with the bust of this
*' statesman in the National Portrait Gallery. > When in repose, his face had
" little colour, but when excited, it blushed all over : and the somewhat high
*' and prominent cheek-bones betrayed the share of Celtic blood he inherited.
" The mouth denoted great decision and firmness, while the leading expres-
" sion of the sparkling asure eyes might be most truly qualified as enquir-
'* ing. His complexion was sanguine, hair red, over which he wore the pow-
** dered wig." In form, Wolfe says to his Mother. " It is not easy to
" describe myself in my present state. If I say Pm thinner, you'll imagine
" me a shadow or a skeleton in motion. In short, I'm everything but what
" the surgeons call a suhject for anatomy ; as far as muscles, bones, and
'* the larger vessels can serve their purpose, they have a clear view of them

*' in me, distinct from fat or fleshy impedicent" ** upon which I may

*' extend my long limbs " " with the advantage of long legs and

" thighs " " very tall and thin." In a letter to his Mother, from

Bristol, of the 19th January, 1755, he says : " Folks are surprised to see the
'* meagre, consumptive, decajdng figure of the son, when the father and
'* mother preserve such good looks ; and people are not easily persuaded
'* that I am one of the family."— (Strange to say. both his parents
were handsome, especially the Mother, who was considered a
beauty.)— ** The campaigns of 1743-4-6-6 and 7, stripped me of my
** bloom, and the winters of Scotland and at Dover have brought me
** almost to old age and infirmity, and this without any remarkable intemper-
" ance. A few years more or less, are of very little consequence to the common
'*run of men, and therefore I need not lament that I am, perhaps, somo-
" what nearer my end than others of my time . I think and write upon these
" points without being at all moved."

In Dianners fascinating, in dress plain, hating ooxoombery or foppisli-
ness; in habits steady, temperate almost abstemious, with a passionate

1 68 Description of Illustrations.

lore for outdoor sports, such u hunting, shooting, riding and fishing ; he
neither gambled, swore, nor sooffed at religion and morality as was then the
▼ogae in the best society. In short, he was a man without enemies, except
those envious of his good qualities, intelligence and habits, and such a one
as is bom to oonmiand, for "all were swift to follow whom all loved."

11. ViOB- Admiral Sib GHiJUJEsSAUNDBBB. p. 90.

Was one of the most distinguished officers of his time and arrived at the
highest rank in his profession. Lieutenant of the Centurion in 1740. Com-
mander of the Ingall in Anson's expedition in 1741. In command of the Yar-
mouth, of 64 guns , he captured the Neptune and Monarque, two 74-gun
vessels, in an engagement under Rear- Admiral Hawke, in October. 1747. In
1750 he was elected M.P. for Plymouth, and married the only child of James
Buck, a banker in London, but left no issue. In 1750 he was appointed Com-
modore and Commander-in-chief at Newfoundland. In December, 1756, he
was named Comptroller of the Navy, and one of the elder brethren of the
Trinity House. In 1756 he was created Rear- Admiral of the Blue, and in 1758
he was made R. A. of the White, and then Vice- Admiral of the Blue. He
was appointed Commander-in-chief of the American fleet in February, 1759,
as Vice- Admiral of the Blue. In 1761 he received the insignia of the Bath,
and died Admiral of the Blue in 1775. His remains were privately interred in
Westminster Abbey, near Wolfe's monument. Admiral Saunders, before
ascending the St. Lawrence, the navigation of which was unknown to English
vessels, selected, on the advice of Capt. Hugh Palliser, the celebrated
Navigator James Cook, then occupying a very humble position in the
fleet, to survey the channel- Had the public services of Admiral Saunders
been conflned solely to the opportunity which he here afforded this great man
of displaying his wonderful talents, he had conferred a benefit on his country
and race that would have merited their everlasting gratitude- On his arrival
home from Quebec, before landing, he turned his fleet back to sea, without
orders, to assist Admiral Hawke to capture a French fleet under Gon-
flars. He was, however, too late. On his return, he happened
accidentally to drop in at the theatre in Dublin, where he was re-
ceived, much to his surprise, with the highest demonstrations of
applause for his victory at Quebec* His reception in London by
the King and people was in the highest degree flattering to him. He

Trouvaille.

The London (England) IVme», Saturday, 4th Febroair, 1888, prints the fol-
lowing oommonioation :~

To iht Editor qf the Time9.

SiR,-A letter in the Times of yesterday, signed W. Starke, on the subject

of the death of General Wolfe, quotes an account stated to have been given

by Lieutenant the Hon. Henry Browne (cny great grand-uncle), who was

present on the occasion, to a Capt Knox.

I now send you an extract from a letter written on November 17, 1750, by

the said Lieut. Browne to h's father, giving a somewhat more detailed

account, which, possibly, you may consider sufficiently interesting to publish.

Yours obediently,

RoBT. J. Browne.

CooLARNB, Glknaokary, Kingstown, County Dublin,
Dublin, January 26.

Extract from a letter from Henry Browne, fifth son of John Browne, M.P.
for Castlebar, who subsequently became Earl of Altamont ;

LouisBOUBa, Nov. 17, 1759.

I writ you a letter the 19ih of Sept, and another to my Bro.

Peter the Ist of Oct. , both, which letters I hope have arrived safe.

I gave you, Dr. Father, as distinct an account in yours as I could of our
action of the 13th Sept. , and of the taking of the Town of Quebeck. I must
add a little to it by informing you that I was the person who carried General
Wolf off the field, and that he was wounded as he stood within a foot of me.
I thanked God I escaped, tho' we had (out of our company, which consisted
but of 62 men at the beginning of the engagement) an officer and four men
killed and 25 wounded-

The General did our company the honour to head us in person, as he said he
knew he could depend upon our behaviour, and I think we fully answered his
expectations, as did, indeed, the whole front line, consisting at most but of
2500 men, by beating according to their own account 8000 men, 2500 of which
were regulars. Our second line, consisting of 1500 men. did not engage or fire
a shot. The poor General, after I had his wounds dressed, died in my arms.
Before he died he thanked me for my care of him, and asked me whether we
had totally deteated the enemy. Upon my assuring him we had killed num-
bers, taken a number of officers and men prisoners, he thanked God and then
begged I would then let him die in peace. He expired in a minute after-
wards, without the least struggle or groan. You can't imagine, dear father,
the sorrow of every individual in the army for so great a loss. Even the

soldieM diropped tears, who were bat the minote before driying their bayonets
through the French. I can't compare it to anything better than to a family
in tears and sorrow which had just lost their father, their friend, and their
whole dependanoe*

Yoor troly and most dutiful and affectionate son,

Hmr. Browni.
John Browne, Esq., at Westport, near Castlebar, Ireland.

Knox's Historical Joamal, 1769, Vol. II, p. 79, states: After oar late
worthy X^eneral, of renowned memory, was carried off wounded to the rear of
the front line, he desired those who were aboat him to lay him down ; being
asked if he would haye a surgeon ? " A surgeon ?" he replied, *' it is need-
less; it is all over with me." One of them then cried out, **They runl see
how they run!" " Who runs?" demanded our hero with great earnestness,
like a person roused from sleep. The officer answered, *' The enemy. Sir.
Egad they give way everywhere." Thereupon the General rejoined, "(To,
one q/" vout my lacUt to Colonel Burton ; tell him to march Webb*9 regiment
with uU tpeed to Charier* $ River ^ to etit off the rttreat of the fugitive*! from the
bridge." Then, turning on his side, he added. " Now God be praised. I will
die in peace /" and thus expired.

After writing the above, Enox adds in a foot-note to page 79 : ** Various
accounts have been circulated of General Wolfe^s manner of djing, his last
words, and the officers into whose bands he fell ; and many, from a vanity of
talking, claimed the honour of being his supporters after he was wounded,
but the foregoing circumstances were ascertained to me by Lieut. Browne, of
the Grenadiers of Louisbourg, and the Twenty-second Regiment, who, with
Mr. Henderson, a volunteer in the same company and a private man, were
the three persons who carried bis Excellency to the rear; which an Artil-
leiy Officer seeing, immediately flew to his assistance ; and these were all
that attended him in his dying moments. / do not recollect tht Artillery
Officer's name, or it thould he cheerfully recorded here,

(The General received three wounds before ho sue-
cumbed — one in the wrist, the second in the head, and the
third in the abdomen. The above letter has appeared since
this work was in type. 1 deem it sufficiently important to
add it as a ** trouvaille," inasmuch as it confirnls in a re-
markable manner the conclusion given by me in the nar-
rative as to the number engaged in the battle, as well as
further showing the reliance to be placed on Knox's valu-
able Historical Journal of the Siege. G. E. H.)

Description of Illustrations. 169

was rewarded for his rictory by being named, uiiBoIioited, laeat-General
of the Marines and being tendered in person the thanks of the House of Com-
mons* Sir Charles was in 1785 made First Lord of the Admiralty over the
heads of many officers his superior in rank— a further testimony of his great
worth and the high opinion held of him. In the funeral prooession of the
]>uke of York, the King's brother, in 1767, he was one of the admirals who
supported the oanopy. Of an unassuming, retiring oharaoter, greatness
unsolicited was his by transcendent merit. He was, moreorer, a Privy
Councillor and Treasurer of the Greenwich Hospital. Wolfe bequeathed his
plate to Saunders.
(From a proof engraving by Shipster of the painting in Greenwich Hospital.)

12. Battle of Month ouinoi, 1750. p. 108.

Another of the views taken by Captain Hervey Smith, aide-de-camp to
Wolfe, at the time of the engagement. From an original engraving made
in London, 1760.

13. The Hok. Bbigadhb-Giniral Robert Monokton. p. 104.

Second son of Viscount Galway. Was at the battle of Dettingen and others
of the Flanders engagements. In 1763 was at Halifax and was sent to sup-
press the riots which took place that year among the Germans at Lunenburg*
In 1754 was appointed Governor of the fort at Annapolis RoyaL In June,
1756, he commanded at the reduction of Fort Beansejonr and the expulsion
of the Acadians. In 1756 he was named Lieut. -Governor of Nova Scotia
under Charles Lawrence as Governor- In 1757 he obtained the appointment of
Lt.-Col. of the 4th Batt., 60th Regt., called Royal Americans, and was at-
tached to the army of Lord Loudoun. In 1758 he commanded a battalion at
the siege of Louisbourg, under Gen. Amherst, and in 1750 he served as 1st
Brigadier-General under Wolfe at Quebec, where he received a ball through
the lungs. He was promoted to the Colonelcy of the 17th Regiment of Foot.
In 1761 he was brevetted a Major General and appointed Governor of
New York. In 1761 he was appointed to the command of the troops
against Martinioo, which he captured. He returned to his Government and
thence to England. Soon after his return home, he was tried by court martial
on charges of oppression preferred against him by a Major Campbell, but of
which he was honorably acquitted. He received the military appointment of

1 70 Description of Illustrations.

Ctovernor of Berwick in 1760, and was made Lieut-General in 1770. In 1778
he wafl Gorernor of Portsmouth, and represented that borongh in Parliament
until his death on the 3rd May, 1782. Wolfe bequeathed his camp equipage
to Monckton, for whom he had the greatest esteem and regard.
(Portrait from an original messotint of 1761.)

14. QUEBIO AfTIB the BOMBARDMKHT, 1759. p. 113.

From a view taken by Richard Short, aide-de-camp to Admiral Saunders,
and published in 1760.

15. Thb Hon. Buoadibb Gbnbbal Gbobob Townshikd. p. lU.

Eldest son of the third Viscount Townshend, and afterwards first Marquess
of the name. Bom 1724, and was godson to King George I. He entered the
army at an early age and serred throughout the Flanders campaign with
Wolfe and Monckton. He was Second Brigadier General in Wolfe's expedi-
tion to Quebec He afterwards attained the rank of Field Marshal and
Colonel of the second regiment of Dragoon Guards ; was also a Privy Coun-
cillor, High Steward of Tamworth, Tarmouth and Norwich, Goremor of
Jersey, and Master-General of the Ordnance. He also administered the goy-
emment of Ireland as Lord Lieutenant in 1767. He married twice, firstly in
1751, Lady Charlotte Compton, only daughter of the Earl of Northampton and
Baroness Ferrers, by whom his escutcheon was emblaioned by oyer two Atm-
drtd and fiftu quarterings, including that of the royal Plantagenets and two
yery ancient Baronies ; secondly* in 1773, Anne, co-heir of Sir William Mont-
gomery, Bart. He died on the 14th September, 1807. He was brave,
talented, but impatient of authority, and excelled in caricaturing. Wolfe
tolerated, but had no personal friendship for him. He found him ^malcontent
at Quebec. Townshend owed his preferment to his great family influence,
his brother Charles being a Minister of State.

(Portrait is from a meizotint made in 1758, immediately after he introduced
his famous Militia Bill in the House of Commons, a copy of which he is hold-
ing in his hands.)

16. Captain Hugh Palusbb, R.N. p. 115.

Post C!aptain in 1746. Was in command of the Shrewsbury 74 guns at
(^ebec ; age, 38. Comptroller of the Navy, Admiral, and a Baronet in 1773.

Description of Illustrations. 171

Mareh 81, 1764, Governor of Kewfomidland. Servinc m second in oonimand
under Admiral Eeppel at Ushant in 1778 ; a misunderstanding arose between
them, and Sir Hugh preferred a oharge against Admiral Eeppel, who was
acquitted. Sir Hugh was then tried in his turn and reprimanded. He was,
howerer, a braye and experienced officer, and became Goremor of Greenwich
HospitaL Bom 1721, died 1796.
(Portrait from an engraying made in 1796.)

17. WoLn's MoKmcBRT, Westmhibteb Abbit. p. 1S7.

On the 21st Noyember, 1759, the House of Oonmions resolved to address the
King that His Majesty would order a monument to be erected in Westmins-
ter Abbey to the memory of Wolfe. The King named the Duke of Devon-
shire as chairman of the committee to take the matter in hand. Wilton's
design was chosen. The sculpture was not finished until 1772, and on the 4th
October, 1772, the national monument was uncovered. It stands near the
north transept of the Abbey Church, and occupies a large space in St. John
the Evangelist's Chapel, facing the ambulatory* It is chiefly composed of
white marble, and consists of an elevated base and sarcophagus, which is
inscribed :—

To the Memory of

JAMES WOLFE,

Major-General and Commander-in-Chief

Of the British Land Forces

On an expedition against Quebec,

Who, after surmounting by ability and valour

All obstacles of art and nature.

Was slain, in the moment of victory.

On the XHL of September, MDCCUX.,

The Eing and Parliament of Great Britain

Dedicate this Monument.

(From an engraving of the period.)

1 72 Description of Illustrations.

18. Ths Hov. BuoADBB-GKyimAL James Mubeat. p- 13S-

FlfthtoooftbefoorthBarooSlibMikCaSeoiehpeer). Hu ffreat-gniidf ftther
WMone of the fix Peen who opposed the deliTennff op of Charles L to the
Parliament of Bncland. Was throa«:hoat the Flanders enfagements. Was
present at the siege of Loatsboiuv, in which he attracted the attention of
Wolfe, who selected him as his third Brigadier at Qaebec He was left in com-
mand of the city after its capitnlation, and was appointed first Qoremor
thereof, and after the treaty of Peace was named Qoremor-General and mili-
tary commander of Oanada. In 1760, he was defeated in an engagement with
Leris, and sobseqaently joined Amherst at Montreal when the Prorince sor-
rendered to the British arms. In 1767 he returned to England on leave of
absence, bat reoeiring a better appointment, he did not return to Oanada. In
1781 he was in, command of the Island of Minorca, besieged by an army of 12,000
Spanish and French troops under the Duke de CriUon, which he successfully
resisted for seren months, with an army of under 2,000 men . They becoming
decimated by disease, he surrendered under most honorable terms, largely
obtained by his becoming conduct in indignantly refusing an offer made to
him by De Crillon of a surrender on payment to him of a million francs and a
French peerage. General Murray's career in Canada was distinguinhed by a
sterlinir sense of honor and justice to the conquered natives, and enjoining to
them their full immunities and priyileges by the terms of the conquest, a
right which some of the incoming British immigrants desired to deprive them
of. General Murray was much regretted by the whole population, and
notably the eleigy. He became a Lieut-GeneraL Bom 170i ; married twice,
having no issue by his first wife, but by his second wife (at age of 78) a son,
who became a Major General ; died 1794, aged 90 years.

(The portrait is from a stipple engraving of 1782, the year in which his son
was bom.)

19. Chkvalikb de Levis. p. 140.

Francois Gaston de Levis, Seigneur de Mirepoix, de Leran, de Charlus, de
(3h&teaumorand ; was bom at Ajac, in lAuguedoc, on the 20th August, 1719.
He was a member of the great historic family of which the Dukes d' Uses
were the lineal descendants, and de Ventadour and Marquis Mirepoix the
collateral branches. They were the first family elevated to the Peerage of
France and honored with the title of Duke. The Mirepoix branch, of which

Description of Illustrations. 173

the ChoTalier was direot inheritor, had the honoraxy and distingoisbed title
of "Marshall of the Faith/' for having fought suooessfaUy the hereti-
oal Albigenses- The name, until 1689, was spelt "de LoTy." His
ancestor, Henry de Levy, Dake de Ventadonr, in 1625, was Viceroy of
Canada, under whose administration Ghamplain was sent as Qovemor to the
colony- He entered the French army in 1736, his first commission being a
lieutenant in a marine regiment ; 17S7, was made Captain ; 1756, Colonel and
Brigadier ; 1758, Marshal de Camp ; 1761, Lieutenant-General ; 1783, Field
MarshaL He was popularly known in his military career as the Chevalier de
Levis, and always was addressed as such. He was appointed second in com-
mand to Montcalm, whose friendship for him from infancy was no doubt
occasioned by their coming from the same province. His campaigns in
Canada, 1756-1760, are fully mentioned herein. Abroad he saw service in
Bohemia in 1741-42, and was at the battle of Dettingen in 1743, opposed to
Wolfe, Amherst, Monokton, Townshend and Murray, as he was afterwards in
Canada. He was throughout all the campaigns of 1743 to 1746 in Flanders,
and afterwards saw service in Italy, Provence and Nice, and distinguished
himself at Montalban. After his return from Canada, he was one of the
very few officers on the French side for whom England and France both had
the greatest respect. A striking mark of England's favor was shown by his
surrender as a prisoner being limited to service in America, it being specially
granted that he could participate on his nation's side in Europe. Hence we
see him taking part in the battles of Villinghausen and Johannisberg. He
was liberally rewarded by France for his services, and in 1784 we find
his titles to be: Francois de L^vis, Duo et Mar^ehal de France,
Chevalier des Ordres du Roy et des Ordres Royaume Militaires et Hospitaliers
de Notre Dame du Mont Carmel et de 8t. Lazare de Jerusalem, Grand Bailli
d'ilp^e de Villers la Montagne, Capitaine des Gardes du corps de Monsieur
Frdre du Roy, Gouvemeur-G6n^ral de la Province d'Artois, et Gouvemeur
Particulier des villes, cit^ et citadelle d' Arras, with emoluments of 97,470
livres a year. He died in 1787.

30. Major Gbkeral Jkitkbt Amherst. p. 148.

Was bom at Sevenoaks, 1717, of an ancient Kentish family. He began

life as Page to the Duke of Donet, aad entered the army in 1731, and in 1741

was Aide-de-camp to General Ligonier, under whom he served at the battles

1 74 Description of Illustrations.

of Bettmgeii, Fontenoy and Booonx, and on the Biaff of the Duke of
Cumberland at the Battles of Laffeldt and Hastenbeok. In 1756 he was
appointed Colonel of the 15th Regiment of foot, and in 1758 was made
Major-General and sent to America, his career being folly mentioned herein*
Having reoeiyed the capitulation of all Canada at the surrender of Montreal,
he returned to New Tork, where he was inrested with the insignia of the
Bath as a special reward and honor, also receiving the thanks of the House of
Commons in England. He was further created a Privy Councillor, and a
Lieut-General. In 1763 he returned to England, was appointed Governor
of Virginia, a sinecure position, sub8e<iuently of Guernsey. In 1776 was
created Baron Amherst of Helmsdale, and in 1788 Baron Amherst of Montreal,
adopting as supporters to his arms, two Indians in full battle array, the
sinister holding a tomahawk suspended to which is a human scalp 1 Reoog-
nising that he owed this high honor to a nation's gratitude for his services in
Canada, he named his seat ** Montreal House." In 1778 he was made
commander-in-chief of the army in England. In 1795 he was created a Field
Marshal, and died in 1797.

He died without issue, though twice aiarried, and was succeeded by his
nephew, William Pitt Amherst, son of Colonel William Amherst his brother,
and aide-de-camp at Louisbourg. He was a man of indomitable perseverance
and courage, but slow and methodical in his movements. Provident, con-
ciliating and cool, Amherst disposed his plans, adopted his measures, recon-
ciled jarring interests, and pursued his operations with steadiness, neither
precipitating nor delaying beyond the due point, and comprehending the
whole under a due authority which he knew how to assume. KWaJkpoU^B
Mema%r$, vol. ii., p. 439.)

(The portrait given is a mesEotint by the celebrated James Watson, after
a painting by Sir Joshua Resniolds, and was made ciroa 1763.)

21. Montreal dt 1760. p. 147.

Is from a very rare engraving, drawn on the spot immediately after the
Conquest, by Thomas Patten.

The large building to the far left, on the point, is the General Hospital,
about the site of the present building of the Examining Warehouse ;
coming to the right, the first steeple is that of the RecoUet Church, the ves-
sel dividing these two. The next steeple is that of the St. Sulpioe Church,

Description of Illustrations. 1 75

just in front of the present Notre Dame Chnroh. The old Congregi^
tional Convent is shown by the blank wall, pointed roof and small steeple in
aboat the centre of the town. The large building with steeple, to the further
right, is the Jesuits' Church, about the site of the present Court House and
fronting on Notre Dame Street, the Fort being on the elevation at the extreme
right or eastern end of the city, known at present as Dalhousie Square. The
city was comprised within the fortifications— a stone wall 12 ft. z 4 ft., finished
in 1728, having a ditch on all sides. It appeared to run along Commissioners
Street and Foundling on the front; St. James Street on the rear; McGill
Street on the west, and Campeau Street on the east.

. Brioadier Ginsral Thomas Gaos. p. 151.

Was second son of the first and father of the third Viscount Gage
of Ireland. Was in Braddock's defeat, as Lieutenant-Colonel command-
ing the advance guard, at Carillon with Abercromby ; was subsequently ap-
pointed Brigadier General, Light Infantry. Was sent by Amherst to succeed
Prideauz after his death at the siege of Niagara, but before reaching there,
the Fort surrendered to Sir Wm. Johnson. He was with Amherst, second in
command, on his descent to Montreal. Upon the surrender of the town he
was left in charge as Governor, and in 1763 was appointed Com-
mander-in-chief of the British forces in North America, in succession to
Amherst. In 1774, he was appointed Governor (the last) of Massachusetts, in
which oflBce his loyalist tendencies made him very obnoxious to the people,
and the following year the Provincial Congress disqualified him from serving
as Governor. In October, 1775, he returned to England. In 1782 he was
made Colonel of the 17th Light Dragoons, and November he was created a
General. He married, in 1758, Margaiet, daughter of Peter Eemble, Presi-
dent of the Council of New Jersey, who survived him until 9th February,
1824, aged SO years. They had three sons, one of whom, the third
Viscount and inheritor of the titles of this very ancient and great
family, was bom in Montreal on the 4th of March, 1761. He pos-
sessed a naturally amiable disposition (which made him much re-
spected and beloved in Montreal as Governor), and his benevolence
often outweighed his justice in the scale of duty. As commander of the
forces he was a failure, and a good deal of the rise of the American Revolu-
tion is attributable to his actions. He died in England, April, 1787.

\^'-